Reach and Stretch

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally a song, hymn or selection of poetry to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Vujicic, Nick. Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013. pp 103-105.

Opening Thought: The best line from this devotional chapter is “There are two types of risk in life: the danger of trying and the danger of not trying.” I have come across many young people, (and in my experience, more young men), who have fallen into the danger of not trying. It is like the wind has been taken out of their sails and even though many of them pretend or posture a disposition of trying, their lives seem more bound to hiding from life and settling for what comes with easement. Their hurdle is their fear of failure, the fear is binding them to failure – this double-edge sword will forever knock them down, unless they shatter their fear of failure by wisely taking a risk.    

The devotional begins with: Matthew 25:28-30 [MSG]

Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.

Second Thought: How do you take risks for yourself, and how do you take risks for God. Taking a risk for God often means a sacrifice of self. Back when Christianity was in its infancy, there was an element of danger to be a person of faith in a time of faith-based persecutions. In the west, we are relatively safe from having to take risks with faith, by sharing faith, and offering to others our thoughts and feelings. Though, some today would say in our current cultural landscape in the west, this safety is being eroded. Regardless, the easements we have in faith are much more lucrative than they were in history. Thus, we tend to focus on the personal risks; how can I risk and form a better existence for myself, family and community, (though many never push pass the self). The original thought I has when I think of risk and the bible is Abraham, a man who before his dynamic relationship with God took hold, was basically hiding and living in his tent. Then God calls him out, risk is not an option when God calls you out. With God is on our side, we may risk, but when the Ultimate walks with you, you know you have a great place to fall to if you find your adventure overwhelming.     

Continual Work: How can you take a risk in your faith? The major hurdle I see in people of faith is a fear in sharing their faith with others; inviting others to journey with them in faith. If you can not share a faith of hope, peace, joy and love, what can you share? Try it today, talk to someone about your faith, what it means to you, and ask them about theirs?

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: I have been jumping into risk this week. For a long time, I have wondered if I could have attention deficit disorder, this has been something I have challenged with since high school. I recently was diagnosed with this and it has been a real eye-opening experience. Before the diagnosis was given, I had to push myself hard to find out because I was scared what it could mean. Sometimes the riskiest things to us can be what exposes truth, but we should never fear truth, truth is merely illumination of reality. If you deny reality you deny God, and in turn, you deny yourself.  Since I have found out about my A.D.D., a lot more makes sense to me about my own habits, and now I am more content and peaceful with myself.

Scripture time: Genesis 12: 1-3

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The challenge with risk is your weighing what you know, with what you don’t. Even a promise of abundance can be a hard thing to aim for. However despite the chasm that must be crossed to take the risk, people who find faith in God will notice those chasms shrink, because when you are risking with God, the abundance offered is not really the prize, it is the communion with our creator that is the true glory. What God carries you towards or through is just the narrative to which you get to express your faith in. That faith will enable you to better enjoy the narrative and in turn, risks won’t seem like risks at all.

Closing Words: I hope you enjoyed and were lifted by this devotional time; it is truly important to take time for God each day. By doing so, you welcome God into your life, and in turn you will be able to better see the world through the eyes of God, rather than God through the world's eyes.

Artistic Close:

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
― William Faulkner