marcwelding

Risk.

(not the board game)

I met someone at the Hospital whose job description (on the door of the office) was ‘Risk Manager’ (sadly they did not have a sense of humor and would not engage in any funny topics I tried to introduce to the conversation. Like, gambling, the weather, the stock market, relationships, should I open and IRA? I wanted them to at least say in a big superhero voice- ‘Be Careful Out There’)

Think about Risk….. some may say they ‘love it’ some may hate it. Some think its fun and others avoid it at all costs.

-it’s dangerous, it could be foolish, someone could get hurt, think of all the things that could go wrong…what will people say?

It’s the opposite of Control.

Have you ever seen people in their cars at an intersection and they are telling other drivers “Go ahead- you first… no, I insist- you first..”  They have to tell everyone what to do. When they tell me to go, I say “ok, Mr. Control Freak!”

we definitely like Control. It feels like….. control. Measured, metered, safe, structured. Boring, perhaps, but safe and sure.

It could seem like those who have Control, don’t have to Risk…. and those who don’t have Control will have to Risk to get Control (so that they don’t have to Risk anymore)

But Risk is the one thing that makes us alive. We do things, we try things, we go places and most importantly, we Love. It’s risky stuff. there are no guarantees and people do get hurt. But because we take these chances, we accomplish things, we learn, we grow, we Live.

Risk is where we actually live, even when we think we are safe. It’s all Risk and even when we think we have Control- we really don’t- and we really are vulnerable and at greater Risk. The tighter we hold on the greater the damage can be sometimes… but that’s a risk we take.

Risk can seem like an option or choice, and sometimes we choose the Risks we take and that is about all the Control we have.

Think about Control…. (I know I just said we don’t have much of it)

There is someone who is the epitome of Control. Total Control- and yet, with all the Control that there ever could be- He chose Risk. GOD, The Holy One, The Father, The Almighty, Beginning and End, The Creator…created Risk- He created Freewill.

Freewill is the greatest Risk you could give and He gave it to us because He is Love, and Love is Risk.

Risk has a price. It can be very costly- there may be a lot to lose. Just like Love. But what can be gained from Love is impossible to measure- and it is well worth the Risk.

You did not evolve- God made you and you are Loved. God is willing to Love you (-very one-sided) so that you will Risk getting to know Him. Jesus came to earth and hung around with flawed people like you and me, because we are worth the Risk. He did not use His Control to make us robots- and He did not just Love us one-time (on the Cross) He continues to Love us as we age and go through things. He allows us to get mad at Him and be upset and sometimes change our opinion of Him- but, He does not take away our Freewill. He continues to Risk and Love- and that is how He draws us back and closer.

The next question has to be: How close are you to God? How much closer could you get if you weren’t afraid?

it’s probably time to take a Risk and let God have some of the Control.

with great risk- Love, T Mark