Risky Business

“It’s a sin to live cautiously.”

I heard this quote from a preacher one time.

I believe what he was getting at is that if we live life in a cautious manner, where nothing is ever outside of our own power to do (that’d be hard), then we never have to rely on God. At that point, faith and trust in God is essentially worthless, because we can do everything in our own power.

But we all know that it’s impossible to get through life relying on our own strength. At least it’d be impossible to live a joyous, fun-filled, life-to-the-fullest type of life without relying on God.

It makes me think of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30, Message). To quickly summarize, Jesus tells a story of a rich man who went on a trip, and entrusted three servants with money. One man received $5,000, another servant $2,000, and the last servant got $1,000.

The first two servants invested and doubled the money. The last one hid the $1,000 in the ground, fearful of losing any of the money. He was “afraid [he] might disappoint [his master], so [he] found a good hiding place and secured [the] money.”

But the master was furious that the servant didn’t even try to invest the money, didn’t even put the money in the bank to collect interest.

“That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that!”

I also recently heard, “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

Both quotes convicted me, because I like to be in control of my life, situations, etc. If there is a problem, I’m confident in being able to find a solution to fix it through enough hard work. I also hate to fail, and do everything I can to prevent that. But having that type of control means you tend to live more cautiously.

To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have been like Peter and gotten out of the boat. I would have been looking at the waves, calculating my inability to displace my bodyweight to float on water, and never left the boat.

Now, I’m not talking about taking unnecessary risk or living foolishly. I’m not about to take out a $250,000 loan to buy a Ferrari. I’m talking about doing things which take me out of my comfort zone, putting myself in a position to rely on God, or fail.

I’m talking about situations like telling a stranger about Jesus or asking if I can pray for them (what if they say no, think I’m a freak, what if it doesn’t work?). Or maybe it’s the risk of acting in love toward someone, knowing you’ll get hurt. For a friend of mine, it was leaving his comfy job to start a nonprofit and minister to people in Africa.

After all, Jesus didn’t live cautiously; he risked it all for us.

“…God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?” –Romans 8:32, Message

Some would call his decision/ risk to love us as being reckless. The human race has hurt God in every way, rejected him, cussed him up and down, and yet He still saw us as worthy to die for. That blows my mind every single time I think about it.

Side note—I don’t know how Jesus picked Judas to be a disciple, knowing Judas would betray him. If I knew someone would betray me, befriending them would be the last thing I’d do. Talk about risky.

Recently, the risk I’ve been contemplating isn’t keeping my love on and always being vulnerable (though I could improve on that). The risk I’ve been hesitant to take is well, a business.

Now, I currently own a (very) small business. I started J’s Windows, a window washing company, a few years back. It was simple, required only a few hundred dollars of investment, and I earned my money back within two window washing jobs.

But now, the business I want to start requires a little more overhead, a little more investment on my side—a little more risk.

It’s also something I’m way more passionate about than window washing.

So, in the spirit of not living cautiously, and stepping out into a direction I sense God is taking me, I’ve decided to launch a new photo/ video business.

I finally bought my own DSLR camera a few days ago (I work as a photographer/ videographer but have never owned my own camera). That was a nice chunk of change to kiss goodbye, and not the end of the investment I’ll need to make. But, it’s a worthwhile investment to do something I’m passionate about, is exciting, and stirs my creative juices. Who knows, maybe my blogs will eventually turn into vlogs.

I likewise encourage you to take a risk today. Maybe it is accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Maybe it is overcoming that fear of praying for people in public. Maybe it’s chasing your dream, when everyone else is telling you to take the safe route.

If God is telling you to do it, it’s not really a risk. It may seem like a risk to our un-renewed mind and fear-based thoughts. But any place God tells you to go, anything He tells you to do is the safest thing ever—because He’s right beside you. And He’ll never let you fail.

It’s time to take a risk.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Justin Dalme and this is my blog, "Anchor Leg." I started this blog to encourage people in their walk with God, have fun, and share what God is constantly teaching me. Based out of Boise, Idaho, I am a proud graduate of Boise State (go Broncos!) and I work as a journalist, photographer, and videographer. I love living in my beautiful state, with snow capped mountains, crystal-clear lakes, gaping canyon gorges and more to explore. I encourage you to take a look around, read a few posts, and join me on this adventure of life.