RISK...Is It Right?

I have been reading Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper over the past semester. This is actually my second time to read it (I read it for the first time in 2005) and I can actually say that it has challenged, encouraged, and convicted me just as much as this time. Today I was discussing chapter 5  on taking risks with a girl I disciple named Christin. At first it simply talks about why risk exist. Risk exist because we do not know how things will turn out. Piper says, “We are not God; we are ignorant. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. God does not tell us in detail what intends to do tomorrow or five years from now. Evidently God intends for us to live and act in ignorance and in uncertainty about the outcome of our actions.”

Piper uses the story of Esther as an example of “courageous risk in the service of love and for the glory of God. ” Most of you probably know the story of Queen Esther.  Mordecai (Esther’s cousin, he had adopted her as his daughter) had sent word to Esther that a decree had been issued for all Jews to be killed. After a three day fast Esther decided to approach the king and plead on behalf of her people although she had not been summoned by the king in thirty days.The law stated that anyone that approaches the king without being summoned is to be put to death, unless the king holds out the golden scepter. But Esther decided to take the RISK…and what a big RISK…it was her own life at stake. Esther 4:15-16 says, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” What does  this mean…”If I perish, I perish?” Piper says, “Esther did not know what the outcome of her act would be. She had no special revelation from God. She made her decision on the basis of wisdom and love for her people and trust in God. She had to RISK or run. She did not know how it would turn out. So she made her decision and handed the results over to God.” Now, is it right to RISK? Is it right to say, “If I perish, I perish.” Piper says, “On the far side of every risk–even if it results in death–the love of God triumphs. This is the faith that frees us to risk for the cause of God. It is not heroism, or lust for adventure, or courageous self-reliance, or efforts to ear God’s favor. It is childlike faith in the triumph of God’s love–that on the other side of all our risks, for the sake of righteousness, God will still be holding us. We will be eternally satisfied in him. Nothing will have been wasted.”

So, I asked myself and Christin why do we often seek safety and comfort instead of taking risks for the cause of Christ. I know for me it comes down to one simple thing…CONTROL. I want to control my life and not expose myself to any loss, suffering, or pain and I want to make decisions where I know what the outcome is going to be. Although, Paul said, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” As Christians we are called to a life of risk .We really have two choices. We can choose to waste our lives or we can choose to live with risk. Today I have chosen to live with risk, to take risk for the cause of Christ and I challenge you to as well! Remember, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”  

Is it right to risk? YES! It is right to risk for the cause of Christ. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”