Safe is Easy

Has there ever been a time you willingly made a choice to put yourself in a situation where you had no other options but to fully rely on God to come through for you, so much so that if He didn’t, you would fail miserably?

I’m not talking about a scenario where you made recklessly bad decisions and your consequences meant you had no other option but to cry out to Him for help. Though anytime you’re in a situation where you must fully rely on God, you’re in a good place.

What I’m talking about is having a big stack of proverbial “poker chips” and pushing them “all in” for Him?

 If I’m being open with you, I’ve never done that. But I want to. I really want to…

I hear and read about people like Katie Davis, who went on a mission trip to Uganda at 19 years old to spend a week helping some children in need and never came back. She decided to stay there, build an orphanage with no money in her pocket, no resources, nothing. Doing that was more important that going back to her life of comfort in the United States.

Katie is now the mother of more than 14 adopted, unwanted children (unwanted by their birth parents).  She is so well respected that she has mothers in the community who have brought their newborn babies to her to raise, because they know she can do a better job and provide a better life for their babies than they can. Katie, having a heart for Jesus, wraps her arms around these mothers and babies and teaches them to raise their children. God came through in a Big Way and provided all her needs.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Talk about taking God’s Word literally!

Or how about the life of Mike and Deena Van't Hul.  Mike left his cushy six-figure job as a Bank Vice President, gave away everything, and went to China with nothing but two suit cases, his wife, and three young children ages 5, 3, and 18 months. Why? Because God told him to.

Just going to China with three children for a vacation sounds insane to me. Yet, they went there permanently, found a cheap apartment with rats and raw sewage, all because they were sold out for what they knew God called them to do.

Mike and Deena now run Loves and Fishes International and opened a foster home called The Hidden Treasures Home which houses and loves on more than 40 unwanted children, because they had some sort of birth defect or disability. These children were unwanted by their birth parents.

But not unwanted by Mike. 

Not unwanted by Deena.

Not unwanted by God.

Yes, those are tears streaming down my face, onto my keyboard right now.

Yes, I’m playing it safe…

I can’t help but wonder what this world would look like if there were more people with hearts like Katie Davis or Mike and Deena Van’t Hul.  It’s not that we weren’t created to do things like they’ve done. We simply choose not to.

Over the past few months I’ve read the book of Acts no less than a dozen times. Every time I read it I’m so inspired by the Apostle Paul and his “sold-out” spirit for the sake of the Gospel.   

We read in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, as Paul recounts many of the things he went through in his journeys.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 2 Corinthians 11: 24-27

Umm what? Let me get this straight… Paul was given 39 lashes 5 times (40 was considered fatal so the Jews so mercifully stopped at 39), flogged three times, executed by being stoned – but didn’t die, shipwrecked three times lost at sea, and yet he still gets up every time, dusted himself off and proclaimed the Gospel.

What is crazy is that the second letter to the Church at Corinth was written before Paul was sent to Rome. On that journey he was shipwrecked yet again (read Acts 27-28). Dude was shipwrecked four times!

Paul understood the power of the Gospel because he experienced it first hand. He went from a church persecutor (Saul) who was responsible inticing the stoning of the disciple Stephen in Acts 7.

(After Stephen was stoned and buried) Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Acts 8:3

To Acts 26 where Paul so boldly tells King Agrippa about the Gospel even under possible punishment of death by being turned over to the Jews who had made a vow not to eat until Paul was killed:

Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” Acts 26:29

Paul had no other option but to trust God would come through for him, and if you read his letters to the other churches, Paul didn’t care if he died for the sake of the Gospel. In fact, he welcomed it in Philippians 1:21.

I look at my own life and readily admit that I have been playing it safe.  Sure I can tell others about the Gospel, pray with strangers, and show acts of love. None of that is bad, but I am not a world-changer. At least not yet!

As I read through the Bible and learn, relearn, and study some amazing narratives, lessons, and teachings, I can’t help but think about the boldness of so many other people.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son simply because God told him to!

Moses went up against the mighty Pharaoh!

Daniel had faith God would protect him in the lion’s den!

Elijah prayed for a drought, trusting that God would take care of him!

The disciples walked away from everything! Their jobs, family, safety to follow a man!

I can’t help but think that if my life were written in the Bible, that the reader would turn the page and think “well that dude played it safe”.

I don’t want to be that guy. I want to inspire others like Katie inspires me. Like Mike and Deena inspire me! Not to boast about myself, but to give the glory to God!

They represent the salt of the earth and are a true light of the world. By comparison, at best I feel like a spark… but it only takes a spark to light a giant fire!

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)