{"id":820,"date":"2024-08-21T16:04:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T16:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=820"},"modified":"2024-08-21T16:06:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T16:06:38","slug":"the-risk-factor-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=820","title":{"rendered":"The Risk Factor of Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A\nwise man wrote, \u201cA ship is safe in the harbor, but that\u2019s not what a ship is built\nfor.\u201d Ships aren\u2019t made to stay in the safe, shallow waters of the harbor;\nthey\u2019re made to sail the open sea. Faith involves risk. Faith is an action\nword. Faith is not just what we say or believe; faith is expressed in what we\ndo\u2014\u201cFaith without works is useless\u201d<\/em> (Jam. 2:20). God honors and rewards\nbold, aggressive faith (Heb. 11:6). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take\na leap of faith! <\/strong>\u201cFaith sees the invisible, believes the\nincredible, and receives the impossible.\u201dWhenGod called Abraham\nto leave his father, Terah\u2019s, house and go to the Promised Land, He didn\u2019t give\nhim any details (Gen. 12:1). Abraham obediently \u201cwent out, not knowing where\nhe was going\u201d<\/em> (Heb. 11:8). Talk about a huge leap of faith! It was risky to\nsever ties with his friends and family to venture out in a hostile world, but\nhis faith and obedience paid off. Abraham\nwas already an elderly man (75), so he was basically starting all over. He left his pagan family and homeland (Ur of the\nChaldees) behind to follow the one, true, God\u2014Jehovah. Abraham\nwillingly traded the known for the unknown and became the \u201cFather of the Faith,\u201d\na revered patriarch in three religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), the\nfounder of two races (Arabs and Jews), and an ancestor of Christ. As Corrie Ten\nBoom said, \u201cNever be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step\nout on a limb! <\/strong>One author wrote, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to step\nout on a limb\u2014that\u2019s where the fruit is!\u201d Plus, if we step out in faith and\nobedience, God will hold the limb up.Zacchaeus is a literal, lasting\nreminder of what can happen when you\u2019re willing to step out on a limb. He was a\nshort, rich, corrupt tax collector. Unable to see Jesus over the crowd, he climbed\na tree for a bird\u2019s-eye view. As Jesus walked by, He stopped, looked up at\nZacchaeus, and invited Himself to his house. While the crowd criticized Christ for\nhaving dinner with a sinner, conviction gripped the con man\u2019s heart. Cured from\nhis greed, he promised to repay all those he defrauded and donate half of his\nwealth to the poor. Jesus declared, \u201cToday salvation has come to this house,\nbecause he also is a son of Abraham\u201d<\/em> (Lk. 19:9). Zacchaeus\u2019 life was\ntotally revolutionized all because he dared to step out on a limb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go\noverboard! <\/strong>When Jesus walked on the stormy Sea of\nGalilee, His disciples first feared He was a ghost. After He reassured them,\nPeter wanted to walk on the water with Him. It\u2019s easy to focus on how Peter\nsank when he took his eyes off the Master, but don\u2019t miss the fact that he had\nthe guts to try something no one else did. The other disciples opted for the\nsecurity of the ship. It is easy to sit in our comfort zones and criticize\nthose who attempt (and sometimes fail) to do great things for God. Doubters say\nit\u2019s too risky to venture beyond the limits of tradition and the status quo. Conventional\nwisdom says, \u201cDon\u2019t go overboard.\u201d Why Not? Peter had the greatest experience\nof his life when he dared to go overboard. Jesus enabled him to do something no\nother human being has ever done\u2014walk on water. Remember, Jonah had the ride of\nhis life when he went overboard too. Maybe we should go overboard more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t\nplay it so safe! <\/strong>WhenCaleb was eighty-five years\nold, you\u2019d think he\u2019d retire, settle down in a corner of Canaan, and tell war\nstories to his grandchildren. Why not leave the giants for younger men to\nhandle? After all, it\u2019s too risky to fight giants, especially at that age. But\nCaleb realized God wasn\u2019t finished with him yet and boldly claimed, \u201cGive me\nthis mountain . . . It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be\nable to drive them out as the Lord said\u201d<\/em> (Josh. 14:12). A survey of seniors\nshowed that if they could re-live their lives, most said they would take more\nrisks and be less reserved. In baseball terms, you can\u2019t steal second base with\nyour foot on first. Kathryn Kuhlman, when asked about the key to her success in\nministry, said, \u201cThink big, talk big, and act big, because we have a great big\nGod.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roll the dice! <\/strong>Haman\u2019s\nhatred for Mordecai, a Jew, was so extreme that only the genocide of all Jews\nwould satisfy his vendetta. When Haman bribed Ahasuerus, King of Persia, with\n10,000 talents of silver to execute his evil plot, neither of them knew queen\nEsther herself was a Jew. Haman cast lots (like rolling dice) to determine\nwhich day the massacre would occur. The lots fell on the 12th month of Adar.\nMeanwhile, Mordecai warned Esther, his niece, not to presume that she was safe.\nHer life was also in jeopardy even though her race was a secret.Persian\nlaw forbade a queen to approach the king without being summoned. So, Esther\nasked her people to fast and pray with her for three days before she rolled her\nown proverbial dice. With total disregard for her crown and her own life (\u201cIf\nI perish, I perish!\u201d<\/em>\u2014Est. 4:16), she appealed to the king on her people\u2019s\nbehalf. God gave her favor and exposed Haman\u2019s heinous plan. Ironically, not\nonly was Haman hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai, but the Jews held a\ntwo-day feast on the 14th and 15th day of Adar\u2014the very time Haman planned to\nannihilate them. The Feast of Purim (meaning lots or dice) is still celebrated by\nthe Jews annually to commemorate how God used Esther\u2019s risky faith to save them.\nMaybe, it\u2019s our time to roll the dice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s your move! <\/strong>When\nwe think we\u2019re waiting on God, He\u2019s often waiting on us. Have you ever played a\nboard game and waited on your opponent to move only to find out it was your\nturn all along? God might be saying, \u201cIt\u2019s your<\/em> move!\u201d God expects us to\ndo the possible while we are waiting on Him to do the impossible.Noah\ndidn\u2019t wait for the rain to start before he built the ark. The Israelites didn\u2019t\nwait until after the walls of Jericho fell to shout. The widow woman didn\u2019t wait\nuntil her meal barrel and oil cruise were full to bake Elijah a cake. Notice\nwhen Jesus told the ten lepers to go show themselves to the priests, \u201cas\nthey went<\/strong>, they were cleansed\u201d <\/em>(Lk. 17:14).They acted in faith\non His Word. When we move, God moves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Joshua commanded\nthe sun to stand still, God responded to his bold faith and delayed the sunset\nso Israel could defeat the Amorites (Josh. 10:12-14). God rewards those who\ntake that first, risky step of faith at His biding. If we wait for ideal\nconditions to do something great for God, we\u2019ll never do much of anything.\nSolomon said, \u201cHe who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the\nclouds will not reap\u201d <\/em>(Ec. 11:4). We would all do well to heed Mary\u2019s wise advice,\n\u201cWhatever He says to you, do it<\/strong>\u201d <\/em>(Jn. 2:5). Do it in faith, even\nif it means taking a risk. Now, it\u2019s your <\/em>move!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A wise man wrote, \u201cA ship is safe in the harbor, but that\u2019s not what a ship is built for.\u201d Ships aren\u2019t made to stay in the safe, shallow waters of the harbor; they\u2019re made to sail the open sea. Faith involves risk. Faith is an action word. Faith is not just what we say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":821,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions\/821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}