On going back to Derby, I couldn’t resist checking out the rodeo, one of the popular annual events right across the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
There was plenty of action, lots of dust, and more Akubras than a plague of rabbits trying to get over the rabbit proof fence. There is a risk involved in getting on a horse or steer and racing the clock to stay on longer than the next person. Falling off at some stage is without question, it’s simply a case of when … and how hard the fall.
Check out my latest video where I talk about risk and the way in which we take on a whole lot of risks in life, often with the knowledge that it’s going to end with a nasty fall. But despite the dirt in our eyes, the bruises, and sometimes, broken bones, we go back and have another go. Often our use of drugs, alcohol and other addictive substances and behaviours are accompanied by a thrill akin to riding a wild steer, and in the moment, we revel in the experience and this justifies the inevitable fall.
But there’s another risk that’s definitely worth taking. Faith in God is a risk because we can’t see God and we often don’t want to take someone else’s word that it’s OK. Like many, you’d rather sit on the outside of the fence and watch everyone else, rather than getting on that steer yourself. Even the Bible itself tells us that faith is the evidence of things we can’t see (Hebrews 11) but there are thousands of years of people who have attested to the wisdom of faith as a risk that far surpasses so many of the other risks we are prepared to take every day.
There’s a major difference between faith and the risks that are common to humanity. Faith involves trusting in a God who, unlike a desperate horse or steer whose main goal is to get rid of its rider, wants us to stay in the saddle. He invites us to give up control of our own lives and to allow him to lead us in directions that may take us out of our comfort zone, but which have eternal rewards.
The great apostle Paul put this this way: For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Now that’s a risk worth taking.
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