Harold Abrahams in chariots of fire, after losing his
first race is brooding. His girlfriend tries to comfort him. She tries to point
out it was one race, and he lost. He shoots back, “I don’t run to lose, I run to
win, if I can’t win, I won’t run!” She shoots back, “If you don’t run, you
can’t win!”
You know folks; if we would just listen a little better when we
watch movies we might be astounded at some of the great statements that are
made. This was a movie about two runners, that’s all, but this statement is a profound
truth about life.
Pardon my title…it is sarcastic. Obviously I believe in
taking chances. Life is a risk, and if you are not willing to take chances, you
will never experience living! I am not talking about gambling or trusting fate.
That is careless and checking your brain at the door! Taking a risk involves
evaluating all possible known outcomes, counting the cost and most importantly,
having a justifiable reason for the risk.
This includes things that are not important to the world, but
maybe just to you. Let me illustrate with an example that I will NEVER
participate in. Sky diving.
If you jump out of a plane not knowing what you are
doing, hoping the bed sheet your holding will work…you are gambling and
will lose the bet! However, if for the joy and thrill it offers, you take time
to learn, understand and accept the possible outcomes, if you skydive it is a
risk, that is worth it to you. For many things in life that is the process, and
when it is done in a reasonable way you don’t have people experiencing tragedies like
you do when dare devils just do it on the moment to be daring…hoping
all will work out.
Risk taking is a MUST for the important issues of life, not
just for leisure, sport or hobby. Throughout the Scriptures those that were
willing to take even a little risk, God blessed in ways they never thought He
would. Just turn to Hebrews 11 and you will see a long list of risk
takers.
Of all the folks in the world, we should be the most confident
to take risks! Why? We know the Person that knows all the possible out comes
and we can actually seek guidance from Him as part of our decision making
process. Whenever we decide to step out of our comfort zone and take a risk for
the Lord – we will be surprised by what He does!
I felt led by the Lord to challenge all of you to not be afraid
to take a risk when trying to glorify the Lord. No matter how small the risk
may be, He can make it reap so much more than you think.
I want to encourage all of you to take whatever you have and
risk it for the Lord. Remember the little the disciples had, and how the Lord
used it?
Matthew 14:15–21 That
evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s
already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and
buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread
and two fish!” they answered. “Bring them here,” he said. Then he told the people to sit down on
the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven,
and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to
the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted,
and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in
addition to all the women and children!
Today, I saw how God took a small risk I chose to take and has
blessed it more than I could have imagined. I joined Face Book in January of
2009, and decided I would mainly use it only to encourage people to get deeper
into the Word of God! I began by just posting one verse and sharing a few lines
of thought. The Lord prompted me to do more. I knew my time was so limited, but
decided to take the risk and begin investing the time to write complete
Devotionals.
In September of 2010 I posted my first Blog Devo. People could
go to two sites to read it. Since then one site disallowed my Devotional, so
now the one site is where people go. Before the other site took my Devotionals
down, I copied how many reads I had. I wanted to see how the Lord was using it.
Today I placed my latest data on my spreadsheet, and I want you to see how God
has used just a little risk of time I took to glorify Himself.
Consider, I am a nobody, just putting a Devotional blog out
there. I have written 625 Devotionals…and today I passed 300,000 reads! I realize that is nothing compared to what well known people get...but I'm a nobody! Today
the total was 300,961! Then I tracked where these Devotionals are being read, It
blew me away!
Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Brazil,
Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador,
Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New
Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Samoa,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan,
Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand , Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine,
United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam,
Zimbabwe
This Scripture is so true!
1 Corinthians 3:6–7 I
planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the
one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the
growth.
Every little risk we take for the Lord, He will maximize.
Whatever little I have accomplished in my life, for me to know that God took
those Scriptures I shared and led thousands of people from so many countries…even
some where the Bible is outlawed…to read and learn from His Book, I will
never let the enemy make me feel that my life did not impact anyone.
Stop being afraid, take a risk for God and watch what He will
do with it!
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