The Risk of Remaining

 

We all love a good story involving risk, don’t we? The one where the hero sells all her possessions to move to a foreign land or leaves a great paying job to start a non-profit with the hopes of changing the world.  We’re inspired by the bravery of the one who risks everything to follow their dream. Stories of faith and courage and risk. After all, every great adventure requires risk. And deep down, don’t we all want to live lives of adventure? I do.

 

Adventure and change seem to go hand in hand and I happen to really enjoy change.  I would even go so far as to say I crave it. On the shaky ground of uncertainty when many anxiously strive towards stability I find myself energized by all of the possibilities of the unknown; excited at the prospect of adventure.

 

Unfortunately this also translates into a temptation to cut and run when things get boring, difficult, frustrating or stagnant. In these moments, risking everything to set out on a new adventure and trusting God with the details seems like a great plan. However, abandoning ship is not always a brave, adventure-promising decision, it can actually be playing it safe. We never learn to weather storms if we jump ship every time the waves begin to rise. Living to tell the tale of the gale force winds, thunder and waves is an adventure. Heading back to shoreline-safety is not.

 

What I’m learning is that persevering in the midst of whatever your current situation is can actually require greater faith and risk than leaving everything familiar behind.

 

Maybe the greatest adventure awaiting us is the opportunity to view our present circumstances with unfamiliar eyes. To carry out the day to day with fresh passion and purpose. To discover new ways to more fully love those around us and pioneer the present moment with intentionality.

 

There are times when the biggest leap of faith you can take is the one you don’t.

 

To choose to stay planted where you are.

 

To risk putting your roots down deep into the soils of difficulty, frustration, discouragement or even injustice to see what grows out of it.

 

To endure and grow stronger.

 

To define your circumstances instead of letting them define you.

 

To chart new territory internally while staying the course externally.  

 

Everything in my change loving nature fights against this. But it’s possible that our longing for adventure is actually fulfilled in simply waiting to hear what God will say next. What simple thing will he say that could transform an ordinary day into an adventure? What area of my heart will he choose next to mold and carve and recreate into something beautiful?

 

We must choose either comfort or courage according to research professor and author Brené Brown. Uncomfortable circumstances provide an opportunity to embody a spirit of courage by facing them head on instead of running or hiding. To choose comfort is to choose stagnation.

 

Christine Caine puts it this way,  “the amount of pressure you can handle will determine your destiny.”  As our capacity to endure discomfort without breaking increases, the borders of our destiny expand. If we break under the pressure or jump ship early our capacity remains the same and we remain where we’ve always been.

 

Wherever you go, there you are.

 

So I’m choosing to believe that the grass is not always greener on the other side. I’m choosing to trust God is working even in the mundane and menial.

 

I’m choosing courage. The courage to embrace the stretching tension of my everyday circumstances. And the courage to remain and find risk and adventure right where I am.