Take a Risk
My youngest son and I recently saw the movie “First Man” about Astronaut Neil Armstrong. I remember the thrill of watching the rocket explode in to the sky that July day in 1969 — and images of a man on the moon. Wow! In one of the previous flights in preparation for the moon landing, three astronauts burned alive in the Gemini capsule. The earliest test pilots and astronauts took great risks. Success was by no means guaranteed. The night before Neil Armstrong left for the Apollo 11 mission, his wife Janet implored him to sit down with their sons and tell them, 10 and 15 at the time, the risks inherent in the mission. Their oldest asked him pointedly, “is there a chance you won’t come back?”
Neil Armstrong (picture by (Jacqueline Moen)
The risks you and I undertake will not involve trips to the moon, but if we do not take risks in our Christian life, I believe we miss part of God’s calling on our life, and we will not fulfill all He has for us to do and be. Only when we remain in a posture of receptive openness can we embrace His call and the risks entailed therein.
Jesus called me to take a short-term missions trip to Kenya when I was 19 years old. I went despite the anxiety I had, not knowing what I would be confronted with in a different country. It was part of God’s plan for my life and had a lasting impact on me — and I met my husband on that trip! Thirty-nine years later, I felt His call to go to India, and that trip also had a monumental impact on my life.
The disciples took massive risks. They left their jobs and families to follow Jesus, an itinerant preacher. Although they weren’t perfect, leaving Jesus when He went to the cross, after the resurrection this ragtag group of men started the Christian church. In Acts 17:6, the authorities said the disciples had “turned the world upside down.” A few chapters earlier, the disciples were described as
“men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 15:26
May the same be said of us! We are called to be in relationship to God, to live for Him, and to share Him with others. That will entail risk-taking. I don’t know what God is calling you to do. He might ask you to minister to the homeless; visit men or women in prison; share the gospel with a co-worker; go on a missions trip to Ecuador; take on a leadership role in church. I do know this — when we move out of our comfort zone and heed God’s call on our life, He works in us. So what do you think? Will you take a risk?
You are right; taking risks that point to the Cross of salvation is worth it, every day. May I always point to the Cross with what I do and say.
Amen! And I have found that even small risks can reap big rewards – when we follow Jesus.