Tag: risk

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Who Do You Fear

Why is it that we use the excuse of fear so many times when we are trying to do something?  We say “I am afraid of their response” or “I am afraid of how they will react”  or “I am afraid of failure”.   Yesterday I mentioned some words from the Christ in Luke 12.  Today, I wanted to back up just a little in that same section of this book from the great doctor and see what else the Christ is saying.

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:4-7 New International Version (NIV)

and here is the same thing from The Message

4-5″I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

6-7″What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries. Luke 12:4-7 The Message (MSG)

So why did I want to repeat the same thing two days in a row. Well I think it’s this thought that has been with me for several weeks, or maybe months. I was in a discussion with some people and one of the ladies said “It really comes down this. Do you fear God more than your fears?”. Hm. I think that is a tough thought. We are paralyzed by fear, yet the Son of God tells us that we should not be afraid of those on this world, but only be afraid of the creator of the world.
I find that when I live with this bold thought it becomes so freeing. It removes so many of the worries of life. Are you flying on a airplane? – no fear! teaching a kid to drive?, no fear! Talking to a new person – no fear!  Stepping out on faith – No Fear!  It allows me to life the radical risk filled life that continues to make me grow ( and avoid ruts).
But when I am fearful, oh, then I am full of the most creative kinds of anxiety that a person could ever imagine. And I a paralyzed into inactivity and non action, and I find comfort in the ruts of life.

I bet it is the same for you!

So, consider those words in Luke and the words of my friend as well – Do you fear God more than your fears?

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Quotable Art

Early this morning I found this set of quite inspiring posters that I just had to share with all you you.  Take a look at this group of thought provoking quotes and the accompany art that I think will help to move you out of your comfort zone and into a place of riskiness.  Since this whole concept of transforming and leaving our comfort zone is what I write about a lot, it just seem good to share these.

 

And then remember what your Creator has said to you:

7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  Luke 12:7 NIV

Oh and let me know your favorite. Mine happens to be  “You’ll have an entire eternity to think inside the box!”

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Wind Watching

Lately, I have been thinking a whole lot about taking risks and getting out on my comfort zone and all of that.  One thing that I seem to struggle with around this risk is making it a priority and just doing it.  You see it’s been my observation in life that for the most part you do what you want to do.  Obviously there are times where other events dictate your decisions, but for hte most part, we do the things that we want to do.  You attend the events you want to attend and don’t attend the ones you don’t want to. 

Except when it comes to stepping out and changing.  Then we sit and find excuses as to why we can’t do the thing we want – and we are pretty good at that.  So today, just a little challenge, and encouragement to continue to break down those excuses.  For instance look at this wisdom from Ecclesiates.

 4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
   whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4, New International Version)

Stop watching the wind and the clouds, and break out of your ruts.  Challenge yourself today to make one small change you have been wanting to make.  I’m starting by getting all this junk off my desk at work – one small change.. How about you?

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Pedestrian Things

I have been reading and studying a lot lately about creativity and taking risks.  Last night, I was looking at somethings that led to another and to another and then on this a quote by writer named Shauna Niequist, and then that search led me to a passage from her book Cold Tangerines.  I believe these words sum teach a lesson on the value of this day that many of us need to her.  As  a matter of fact I may need to run out to McKays and see if there is a copy of this book laying around out there so I can read the whole thing.  It seems to address the whole idea about turning the everyday into something special quite well.  Take a look ( sorry this is such a long passage!)

“I have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life I thought I would have. In my head, I was always one step away. In high school, I was biding my time until I could become the college version of myself, the one my mind could see so clearly. In college, the post-college “adult” person was always looming in front of me, smarter, stronger, more organized. Then the married person, then the person I’d become when we have kids. For twenty years, literally, I have waited to become the thin version of myself, because that’s when life will really begin.
And through all that waiting, here I am. My life is passing, day by day, and I am waiting for it to start. I am waiting for that time, that person, that event when my life will finally begin.
I love movies about “The Big Moment” – the game or the performance or the wedding day or the record deal, the stories that split time with that key event, and everything is reframed, before it and after it, because it has changed everything. I have always wanted this movie-worthy event, something that will change everything and grab me out of this waiting game into the whirlwind in front of me. I cry and cry at these movies, because I am still waiting for my own big moment. I had visions of life as an adventure, a thing to be celebrated and experienced, but all I was doing was going to work and coming home, and that wasn’t what it looked like in the movies.
John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” For me, life is what was happening while I was busy waiting for my big moment. I was ready for it and believed that the rest of my life would fade into the background, and that my big moment would carry me through life like a lifeboat.
The Big Moment, unfortunately, is an urban myth. Some people have them, in a sense, when they win the Heisman or become the next American Idol. But even that football player or that singer is living a life made up of more than that one moment. Life is a collection of a million, billion moments, tiny little moments and choices, like a handful of luminous, glowing pearl. It takes so much time, and so much work, and those beads and moments are so small, and so much less fabulous and dramatic than the movies.
But this is what I’m finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing I’m waiting for, that adventure, that move-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and secrets – this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of use will ever experience.”
— Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life)

 

Yep, the turning the pedestrian into the Moment.  That’s living life.  Let’s give that a go, shall we?

 

24This day belongs to the LORD!

Let’s celebrate

and be glad today. Psalm 118:24 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

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Pushing Through the Falls

Last night, once I finally got home from late night basketball, I sat down and watched a little bit of the Fall-a-lympics.  Did you notice?  In the women’s snowboard, fall after fall.  Men’s skating – fall, fall, fall.  So many falls, that I eventually “fell” asleep, kicked back in my favorite chair and missed the great victory last night in men’s skating (disappointing ).

Anyway, while I was still awake, I was asking my lovely and multi-talented wife why she thought there were so many falls.    We both through out several theories, including that they tired ( like us), they didn’t get enough practice, or that is was Bush’s fault. (ok just kidding on the last one).   But ultimately we settled, and I think this is true, on that fact that they are having to push so hard because there is such a small separation between Gold and last.  They push so hard, and when you push yourself, sometimes  you make mistakes.   All of these athletes are capable of pretty incredible athletic accomplishments, but on the world’s stage we see them falter. They could pull back just a little and finish their event without a fall, but would fall would be any chance at a medal.  So, they go for it, they push themselves a little past what they can comfortable do, and when it works – its awesome!

So it is with our lives – physical and spiritual.  We can live in our comfort zone and never make a mistake, and never reap the reward.  Live it out on the edge.  Push yourself in your life.  Accept that you will not be perfect, but at times, things will work out in a way that you just can’t even imagine how awesome the reward will be.

This is why I love the Olympics.  It so inspiring, its so motivating, its such a microcosm of life.

So, lets take some risks, lets live a little bit crazy, step out of the place of comfort and lets impact others by pushing on the edges.

And then find your safety in God.

New International Version (NIV)Psalm 4:7-8

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.