Written by Daniel Ngo
What is the greatest risk you have ever taken?
I do not like the high diving boards at the pools. They bring me so much anxiety because I have a great fear of heights. I usually go with a group of people who will always peer pressure me to do things I don’t want to do, and I am always a sucker who gives in to peer pressure. I still do not like the high diving board at pools. I don’t like climbing the 10-foot ladder to stand at the top. I don’t like looking down at everyone who look like ants from that height. I don’t like gathering up my courage to take that first step off the board. I don’t like the feeling you get from free falling where your stomach shoots through your throat. I don’t like hitting the water in awkward ways because I am as stiff as a plank! The high diving board is not my friend. And yet, I will finish diving, my anxieties will subside, and everything will turn out fine. Then I will find myself on the diving board again.
Don’t get me wrong. I still do not like diving boards! But they teach me a lot about taking risks for God. I have learned in my walk with God that God usually asks us to take that one small step for Him and he will take care of the rest. Sometimes that step is the most difficult. You are thrust into a state where you have no control, and there is no way to turn back. All you can do is trust.
Paul and Barnabas took a huge risk as well in Acts 13. They wanted to share the incredible news of Jesus with the Jews, but their own people rejected them. They needed to take a big risk to share the news with the Gentiles. How could pagan believers accept the news of Jesus if those who were trained and raised up in the Jewish customs have rejected it? Can you imagine what would have happened if they didn’t take that risk? Most of us who are not Jews would not have a chance to believe in our precious Jesus! Our lives would be so different!
We take risks every day. The moment you step into a car, you are susceptible to all types of dangers, yet many of us would not sacrifice a little comfort to follow God’s call. God has shown his steadfast faithfulness in my life many times. I want to take a risk for Him every time, not because I may get things from God, but because he is good and worthy. He is worth the risk.
What risk is Jesus inviting you to take today?
