Don't Play It Safe #4

 

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
    for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
    they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
    and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

If there is one short summary of the above well-known advice, it is this: "Don't live life gripped with fear." We have to take risks at times, not knowing where that path will lead us.  God is ultimately in control, and if our goal is ultimately to please Him, then we will do well.  That does not mean we will have no failures or losses, nor that storms will not come upon us, but we cannot be frozen in our footsteps taking no action. This is not an invitation to reckless foolishness, but it does mean doing and saying things at times that some would consider to be foolish.  As Paul tells us, to this world the things of Christ often seem foolish, but they really are not; they are steps of faith and obedience, taking risks to see what great things God has in store.  Don't play life too safe.