Playing It Safe is Risky

Being a lion chaser, it is difficult for me to imagine playing it safe. I know what I think it might look like. It might look like being in the military during peacetime. There is structure. There is discipline. There is authority. There are defined expectations. When I joined the military, my dad's advice was, 'never volunteer for anything'. If you are not a lion chaser, this might seem like good reasonable advice. But, is it really? What will our work environment look like if there are no volunteers?


Consider Peter. Was he a risk taker? You betcha! When Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water. He was taking great risk. The story doesn't say he had a safety line tied to him. It says he stepped out with Jesus' encouragement. When Peter cut off the guards ear, he was taking a great risk. In fact, in both examples Peter was risking his life. What is fascinating for me is that Peter likely did not give the initial action even a second thought. He just did it. Peter likely had a life time of risk taking behind him. First, baby steps. Then, as he grew in faith he naturally took bigger steps. At work, might we consider what baby steps we can take to grow in faith while taking risks.

God's word tells us to count the cost before we start a project. The highest cost we might pay would be the failure of disobedience. This is really the core truth of lion chasing. God wants our obedience and faith. They go hand in hand. Because He is who He says he is and His character doesn't change, it is highly likely you will have many opportunities to demonstrate your faith in obedient acts before the Father. With your obedience, you will be chasing a lion in a pit on a snowy day. This goes with the author's thought that no risk is by far riskier than taking a risk.

From this perspective, it is encouraging to know we are all running the same race. God desires us to be obedient in our risk taking. He will be there, just as He was with Peter with His hand out. Jesus has come to serve and to save. We are to be Christ-like. In the work place, how should we react to risk takers?