Risk Brings Opportunity

There is not always an easy answer.  I will try anyway.  There is not always a clear path.   I will keep walking.  There is not always a happy ending.  I will not give up.  There are circumstances that seem impossible.  I will not grow weary.  There are mountains seemingly too big to move.  I will not lose faith.

God loves to meet us at our place of risk.  To risk nothing for God is the greatest risk.  When we risk nothing, we really risk never allowing ourselves to see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives.

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”

Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following Him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.  I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”’

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go!  It will be done just as you believed it would.”

And his servant was healed that very hour.  -Matthew 8:5-13

God is a lot more personal and a lot more interested in proving Himself powerful than a lot of us realize.  He wants to show up and show off –are we willing to invite Him to?

I am learning so much about myself now that I’ve been removed from everything familiar and comfortable in my life.  I am learning a new reliance on God and recognizing that apart from Him showing up, I really don’t have much to offer on my own.  God is my provider.  God is the one who had called me and is equipping me.  God is the one who guides my steps and it’s for Him that I risk at all.

As I continue to wrestle and struggle to find my place here in Kenya, I am reminded daily that God will never call me where He is not.  He walks with me, goes before me, and makes straight the path beneath my feet.  I have only to believe in Him, to take Him at His word.  I have only to risk on His behalf, allowing room for Him to catch me as I step off the edge.  I have no idea what’s in store for this year or even beyond that.  I have no idea what’s in store for tomorrow, BUT I know the One who has called me is faithful and He will do it. (1 Thess. 5:24).

As my mom wrote to me in a card years ago, “Do your best and thank God for the opportunity!”

I may not know what my future holds here in Kenya, but I will do my best.  I will love others.  I will serve where and how I can.  I will encourage and pray.  I will try and not give up.  I will risk and trust God with the results.

Thanks God for the opportunity!