Is there Something More – Arena of Risk Blog Series, Blog 1
All of us have asked ourselves this question at some point or another: Is there something more? Am I missing something? This is the key question Jordan Penny is asking himself at the start of my new book, Arena of Risk. He knows there’s a change coming in his life. He knows there’s a change coming in his family. But he senses that, with that change, God isn’t wanting him to invest the time that’s freed up into his business. Rather, God has a deeper purpose for him to carry out.
In this season, as he gathers with his friends on a camping trip, Jordan first hears the concept of the arena of risk. As a realtor and house-flipping contractor, risk has been part of Jordan’s business life for as long as he can remember. But he’s never considered that risk might need to be part of his walk of faith. At this point, however, he still doesn’t know what that risk might be. And so, his friends give him a starting point: Be ready.
Readiness for Something More
As the children of Israel were leaving Egypt and as they went through the wilderness, God lead them by the pillar of fire and cloud. They didn’t know when that cloud was going to start moving. So, they had to be ready. They couldn’t leave their belongings strewn all over the camp. They couldn’t collect rocks along the way. All of that would slow them down. They had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and our walk of faith is no different.
Readiness begins with a moment of surrender. Such moments took place in the lives of Samuel and Isaiah. For Isaiah the moment came when God asked the question, “Whom can I send”? Isaiah’s answer is wrapped up in six simple words, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” For Samuel that moment came as he lay in bed. Thinking Eli was calling him, he went to his master time after time. Finally, the old man said, “When the Lord calls you, say to him, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth.” When God calls, when He starts to whisper to our hearts, the first step of readiness—long before we know the steps of action—is a simple, “Here I am.”
Commitment
In Arena of Risk, Matt tells Jordan that movement starts with a commitment. The commitment is not to a specific task or course of action. The commitment is simply to say, “Lord, whatever you have for me, I will do it.” This sounds scary because “whatever” covers a lot of ground. That’s why Matt goes on to tell Jordan that not only do you commit to the “whatever” but you commit to whatever comes with it.
It’s a bit like the commitment to go into the army. Once you’ve enlisted, you know that you have to go. You’ve made the choice that you’re going to go. You know there are risks. You know that you don’t know what those exact risks will be. You don’t know what your officers will command you to do, but you do know that when they command you to do it, you must do it. There’s no option. There’s no choice. You already made the choice the day you enlisted. So, when the command comes, you’ve already committed yourself to it. You’ve already died. Risk or not, you’re ready to move forward.
Waiting for Something More
The proverbial pillar of cloud doesn’t start moving as soon as we take this step of surrender and make this commitment. We don’t always know what that “something more” is the next morning when we wake up. In fact, there is usually a time of waiting. If you’re like me, waiting can be hard. I like to get up and go, to be moving forward. But sometimes God wants us to wait because he’s doing something that we can’t see. If we rush ahead, we’ll only cause the task He has given us to be that much more difficult. So what do we do in those times of waiting?
Worship
Waiting is a wonderful time for worship. Waiting periods tends to be slower and can often be a time of less distraction. What better time to focus on who God is, on praising Him, and deepening our relationship with Him?
One of the greatest lessons I ever learned from the believers in the Russian churches I attended was that of truly magnifying God in prayer. I wish every believer could attend a service in which saints who have walked with the Lord and suffered persecution lift their voices in praise, glorifying God for who He is. Before entering that culture, I had never heard the attributes of God spoken back to Him so fervently and consistently. In your time of waiting, stop and learn more of who He is. Repeat it back to Him. Praise Him for it. Worship Him. Honor Him. Adore Him in song, word, and action.
I recently found a note in a journal that says, “Has God captivated you in such a way that it elicits such a response in others?” The more we spend time in worship and the more we spend time coming to know who God is, the more we will be captivated by Him and the more the world around us will see his glory in and through us. This, my friends, is a wonderful way to spend our waiting.
Growing
Many years ago, I was on one of the highest mountain peaks in my home state, Montana. As I looked around me, I noticed there wasn’t a lot growing. It was basically tundra. We were above the tree line, so all that covered the ground were a few alpine flowers and several types of curly grass, growing close to the earth in a near perpetual state of frostiness. I started thinking about mountaintop experiences. You know, the thing we’re always looking for—the next big event in our life, the next great accomplishment. I realized that while the mountaintop is beautiful and you can see forever, not much grows there. But in the valley you find lush grasses, giant trees, thick underbrush, mosses, mushrooms, and flowers galore. It’s in the valleys—in-between the mountains—where things grow.
Our lives are much the same. Our waiting, between the mountaintops, can be both a time for worship and a time for growth. Those valley lands can be cultivated, the soil turned, the seed sown, the plants watered, the fruit gathered. So in the waiting, be sure you’re growing.
Walking
I’ve rarely met a child who can sit still for long. Waiting is excruciating when you’re five. But are we really any better as adults? Don’t we want to be moving? The truth is, waiting doesn’t always mean we have to sit. It’s often said that a ship in motion is easier to steer than one that is still. Our time of waiting can also be a time of walking in the way God has already led us. Rather than stopping and standing still, we can keep pressing on in faithfulness. Then, when we know what is next, we’re already on the move.
Preparing to Run
I love the verse in Habakkuk that says “write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he my run that readeth it.” (Hab. 2:2) It’s so important that when God’s instructions finally come, we are able to understand them clearly, step out, and start running. If we have been walking, then breaking into that run is so much easier.
But we can’t do it if we’re burdened down by a backpack full of rocks. This is what Paul was talking about when he told Timothy not to be encumbered by the things of this world. So, as we’re in our time of waiting, we can be eliminating from life those things that will hold us back when it’s time to run. It might be the sins that so easily beset us. Or maybe it’s the things—actual things—that could get in our way. Only you can discern what those things are as you sit down and talk with God about it.
Are you sensing that God is calling you to something more, or perhaps simply something different? Start with the commitment to follow through, whatever it is, and then, while you wait—prepare yourself to run.