Lessons on Risk Taking (Part 2)

(PC: Horizonte Ensenada)

Lesson 2: Risk taking requires grace upon grace 

Risk-taking can be terrifying. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and fear of regret are all powerful emotions. They bind us, enslave us, and hold us back from experiencing our full potential.

When I first started thinking about moving my family to Mexico to become missionaries, I had so many fears of the unknown: 

• Will I be able to provide for my family? 
• We we be able to live in another country? 
• We we be ok leaving our family and friends? 

To make matters worse, I didn't have a lot of time to think about it. My wife and I had about six weeks to sell our home, raise support, and make the transition to a new country.

But we knew something so compelling that it helped us to take the biggest risk of our lives - we have grace upon grace. 

We leaned into promises like: "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19). 

And: "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matt 6:33). 

We took God at his word. He promised to take care of us if we took a risk. In fact, he was pleased by it! 

So we did it. And we continue to encounter his grace everyday we are here...

We sold our house in two weeks. We raised enough support to make the move to Mexico in one night. We have had so many friends help us here that sometimes we forget we are in a different country. Grace upon Grace. 

One of the best stories of God's grace happened the first week we moved down here. 

After selling our home and packing up our stuff, we made the journey to Ensenada. To our horror, however, the house we lined up to rent had been rented to somebody else. We had no warning. Suddenly, we didn't have to place a live. And we were in a new country! 

We decided to keep our kids in the States until we found a new house to rent. We looked everywhere. Friends were looking for us as well. We were making phone calls, checking websites, and driving to different locations. And nothing was working. We couldn't find anything. This went on for a couple of weeks. 

Questions started to arise in our minds - did we make the right move? Did we just make the biggest mistake of our lives? 

Then out of nowhere, one of the students at our Leadership School came up to us and said she would like to help us find a home. She told us her mom knows of a lot of homes that are available and they would both be willing to help. 

The next day they took us to the first house they wanted to show us. We went inside and couldn't believe it. It was the nicest, cleanest, newest home we had seen out of all of them we looked at. We asked about the price and to our surprise it perfectly fit into our price range. It was big enough for our whole family, in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Ensenada and only five minutes away from the church. We couldn't have asked for more. 

Grace upon grace. 

That's how it works. The grace of God cannot be fully explained but it can be fully received. And it is available to anyone who asks. 

Especially for those that take risks: "It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." (Heb. 11:6). 

God rewards risk takers. What risk do you feel called to take?