I was emotionally gripped to hear a man named John Moorhead speak from beyond the grave. He had been recorded days before succumbing to cancer and his message was played during a men’s retreat.
When confronted with a cancer diagnosis, he quickly saw areas in his life that needed to be adjusted if he was going to finish well. One area was “to stop minimizing himself.” For far too long he had taken a back seat by underestimating the influence of his life. That was no longer going to happen.
When asked what he would do differently if he could go back 20 years, he said “I would have risked more, especially with relationships.” There is a tendency to go it alone too much. He realized that beyond connecting with his spouse and family he needed to step out of his comfort zone and risk more with the people that God had put in his path.
There will be a tension when we risk with others. One of the speakers in the group said that it would be like the tension of an arrow being pulled back on the string of a bow. That’s good tension. That’s when the Holy Spirit can release you to influence others. Risking in this way means full dependence on God. Playing it safe means full dependence on yourself.
Based on what I heard, I want to include some type of God-dependent risk taking with others. It could be small or large, but would involve the people the Holy Spirit brings across my path. It is a good antidote to my pattern of playing it safe.
Occasionally, we will be the recipient of someone who engages us in a risk taking way. It feels good to be sought after in that way.
Shifting our frame of mind to risking more with other people makes sense as God orchestrates the details.
I’m going to try that and hopefully make it a new habit.
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