Risk Tolerance – Part III

Last updated on: July 26, 2016 at 10:55 am by Adrian Crawford

Risk Tolerance – Part III 2016-07-26T10:55:43-04:00 Adrian Crawford

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Risk Tolerance

There is a man at the church I pastor who had a radical encounter with Jesus in his 20’s and from that moment on, he pursued a life of full-time ministry. He raised support, he helped launch churches and he ministered to college students, high school students, young professionals, married couples, and many others. He did this for a few years.

He was building the church, advancing the kingdom, working full time in ministry BUT he felt the Lord was calling him to something different. God didn’t cause this unsettling in his heart through allowing his ministry to fail or through a prophecy from a respected elder; rather much like Elijah the Lord whispered to his soul. His life of ministry was flourishing but inside God began to stir his natural gifts and abilities. This man is incredibly gifted with construction and he started to long to work with his hands.

He was on staff and adding value to our church, but the desire to build and design grew to the point that he no longer felt that he was living in the will of God. Much to the shock of those around him and to the individuals he was ministering to, this man walked away from full-time ministry and walked toward something else. He headed straight for a career working with his hands, he headed toward the path he felt the Lord was calling him to, he headed on a straight path toward risk.

We hear about people who risk it all and take that chance to follow their dreams and desires, but what separates us from them? Is a high risk tolerance something you are born with? What makes it so easy for them to follow their gut? Do you think it is already too late in the game for you to change courses?

I think the best way to understand RISK is to treat it like your triceps. Most people have this muscle, but I have never met anyone who has a strong tricep by accident. This is not like a quad or a bicep that may grow and be relatively strong from day to day life and activity. It is a stubborn part of the body that needs to be specifically targeted in order for it to have tone and definition. In the same way, you will never be able to have an amazing capacity for risk if you do not begin to intentionally grow your tolerance for risk. I choose to compare risk to triceps because if you have ever attempted to do a set of dips in the gym, you know that they hurt. Trying to target this muscle may cause your entire body to shake, and this is the perfect picture of taking a risk. Everything will shake.

If you do it right, the world around you will no longer feel safe and secure. Start where you are. Examine what areas you keep tucked away because you are afraid of really wanting more. If we begin to want more or want different than what we have, and we allow God to put His finger on things that we have done in safety and not in faith, we will be left with no other choice but to risk these things and trust that God will be there to catch us.

This man has a family and if his decision does not pan out, there is a lot riding on him as the provider for his wife and children. He is not taking a risk for the sake of living dangerously. He took a risk because he believes that God does not promise us safety when he calls us to a mission.
One of the men I admire most in the respect of risk taking is Elon Musk. For the sake of brevity, I will not tell his story, but I encourage you to read his story. It inspired me and I hope it will do the same for you: ELON MUSK STORY.

Here’s to the risk!

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