One Day as a Lion!

I came across this verse this morning and I love it:

Proverbs 28:1: The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.

Sheesh. Bring it, Solomon.

It got me thinking, “I can afford to be a lot more bold than I currently am.” When I look at people like Ben Arment and Anne Jackson, I get inspired. Homeys be makin’ it happen. (Ben’s post about kids with famous parents still haunts me, as I think he’s spot on.)

If there’s a theme emerging in my life and in the life of BeDeviant.com, it’s that God can afford our failures. He’s not up for blind stupidity, but he is up for us taking chances–”sanctified guesses” as Mark Batterson put it.

Ben wrote this morning, “A few friends are making murmurs of departure from cubicle life to follow their dreams. I think God is stirring our generation.”

I would agree. The Spirit is breathing and I, for one, am going to catch that wind.

Where do you need to be more bold?

A new business idea you’ve had forever?
Asking a girl out that you’ve liked forever?
Going back to school?
Launching a new ministry in your church?

Where could you stand to take a few more chances? What gets you excited?

Please share.

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Contributor: Justin Wise

I am a religious deviant who enjoys coffee, collared shirts, spending time with my wife and son, learning about quantum physics and creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ. Find more here: JustinWise.me

anne jackson

There is this girl I've been wanting to ask out!! THANKS!! JK. But thanks for the link love. Seriously. And Ben rocks.

Jay

Here's the thing for me. For quite some time now I have been feeling God's call to get into ministry full time. At some point I see that opportunity being presented to me and I'm wondering at this point what my reaction will be when that happens.

I've worked at the same company now for 10 years. I helped build it and there's a serious 'comfort zone' within it and also the pay is pretty good. Of course, if you don't want to make a lot of money, you go work in ministry. That's not what concerns me. What concerns me is that even now things are tight. I can imagine what it would be like if I took a 30-40% cut in pay. God would provide no doubt but whether or not I was doing what He wanted would determine whether or not it would be a successful move.

We'll see what happens.

Bill Bolte

As much as I would love to call myself a risk-taker, when it comes down to it, I'm not. But, there were a couple of times in my life where I had to make the move, to leave something stable and secure and strike out. When you can tap into that faith, it does feel remarkably alive and free. I wasn't worried about losing stuff. I can't tell you how freeing that was.

I to have recently felt that restlessness that Justin mentioned. I just don't know where I should go with it right now.

Great post Justin. Keep us updated on where the wind takes you.

Dan Bryan

I'm going to try to be (uncharacteristically) short-winded. Love that line about leaving the cubicle life for a dream. I've done it twice now, strangely enough once to enter the church, and once to leave it; both have been extremely challenging, confusing, but at the end of it all (and even in the middle) also very life-giving.

I think this emerging refusal to live as someone has told us to is also very diverse, it's not a monolith - I see a similar spirit in the social entrepreneur, the humanitarian, and the artist. On paper these rhythms of life can look fickle (often when I look at my own life), but in flesh and blood it feels like being truly alive. I'll throw these thoughts out there to other risk-takers shirking convention, and would love to know what it has felt like for everyone else:

-Periodically leaving security and the land of "should" (I think this can manifest itself just about anywhere) is incredibly feeing.

-I'm often terrified about how I will support my family with passion and dreams as a compass (but my wife and I are committed to it).

-As scared as I am at times, to go back feels like it would cost too much of my soul.

-I'm not blind to real-world obligations and realities - how do we maintain an edge of dream chasing over a lifetime?