inching out

January 18, 2006

one of the most dangerous places to drive is in the parking lot. lots of careless mistakes are made there and countless number of accidents, though minor, occur frequently. knowing this, whenever i drive into one, i drive slow and i drive careful. i am relentless about this when entering and leaving parking spaces.

99% of the time, i will back my car into the spot. while this is more troublesome, i see it as a safety issue. when leaving my parking space, i am much more aware of my surroundings than if i were to back out of my spot. why? i don't know who will be park next to me. if a larger vehicle, like a van or suv parked beside me, i'd have a much harder time with visibility. it's still hard even if i back in. so what do i do? i inch out, very slowly. i keep my foot on the break and let my car start moving, bit by bit.

we're taught to be careful, aren't we? we don't like the idea of risk, danger or uncertainty. safety, comfort, security, those are terms that resonated well with us. in fact, we desire these things. we create security measures for ourselves, house insurance, car insurance, life insurance, fire insurance, etc. we create ways to store up money for when we retire, like RRSPs, mutual funds and bonds. this is the culture we live in. this is the culture we were brought up in.

i don't know anyone that will just rush out of their parking spot without being careful about it. we know better than that. that's the problem. we think we know better. we calculate the risk, measure it up against our own security and make a decision. often, our decision is for security rather than risk. of course, there is nothing wrong with that, but we miss out on many great possibilities when we do. more over, we miss out the potential God moments in our lives because we decided to err on safety rather than risk. personally i find it thrilling to step out in faith and trust God. i know that He's in control of everything and that He has the best in store. i know that if i listen to myself instead of Him, i will miss out on witnessing the wonder and majesty of my God. yes, sometimes it's easier said than done, but faith was never meant to be easy or comfortable.

a speaker recently said that the "safest place to be is in the centre of God's will." don't confuse this with what tend to understand as safety. it's not safety in the sense that you will be protected from all harm. it's not safety in that nothing will ever go wrong. it's knowing that God is in control of all things and that He has the best plans in mind. Christianity isn't based on security. it's not based on being comfortable, safe or secure. the early disciples were mocked, persecuted, whipped, thrown in jail, beheaded and even crucified for their faith. if we were ever to face those kind of conditions, how many of us would cower into the shadows and play ignorant? how many of us rather be safe than face that sort of hardship and suffering?

i desire to life the Christian life in its entirety. i believe the Christian life is full of excitement, possibilities and wonder. how could it not be? Christ LIVES in us. the Holy Spirit DWELLS in us. besides, how can we call ourselves people of faith if we aren't able to trust God in all things—our very lives? how can we be people of faith if we choose to trust in ourselves and go for safety rather than the things that God calls us to? if God calls you to something and you decide against it because you want to play it safe, you are choosing yourself over Him. you are saying that you know better. you are saying that your ways are better. we demean God and belittle Him.

the Bible has some great examples of people who lived by faith. esther wasn't afraid of stepping out, even though her life was in jeopardy (see esther 4:16). shadrach, meshach and abednego weren't afraid of being thrown into the blazing furnace because of their faith (see daniel 3:16-18). do you think it was easy for them to do step out like that? do you think that their decision was leading to safety, security and comfort? if we continue the stories, we find that esther was not killed and that in fact, she helped rescue her own people. shadrach, meshach and abednego were not burnt in the furnace, and in fact, their defiance to king nebuchadnezzar for their faith led him to make a decree that no one was to say anything against God.

let us choose to chase after the things of God, no matter how wild, how crazy they may be. and let us decide to never be satisfied with safety when we know God is calling us to step out in faith.

Posted by Leo Chan at January 18, 2006 11:24 PM