Courageous – 3

Courageous – 3

Subject – The Courage to Take Risks

By Rick Welborne

2 Samuel 23:20-23 (NLT2)
²⁰  There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.
²¹  Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.
²²  Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors.
²³  He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.

Vision, Passion, Discipline, and Risk

1. Vision - Godly vision is the power to see beyond our limitations. 

Helen Keller – What’s worse than being blind? Having eyesight but no vision. 

2. Passion - The intense, compelling emotion evidenced in decisive, courageous action.

Carl Barth – Passion is fear that said its prayers.

3. Discipline - Embracing the restraints of a Godly ambition.

--Vision and passion produces or results in discipline. 

4. Risk - Spending your life making a difference that your dreams (visions) dared you to believe.

--Vision, passion, and discipline will give you the courage to take risk.

Mark Twain – Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

--As you read through the Word of God, you quickly see that God uses people who are willing to take a risk and will do what He tells them to do like Abraham, Nehemiah, and Benaiah.

--Abraham risked his son by his obedience to God. Nehemiah risked his position in the Babylonian administration to build the walls of Jerusalem. Benaiah risked his life chasing a lion. 

--The law of risk in God’s economy is universal and it is eternal. The more you are willing to risk, the more God can use you. 

--If you are willing to risk everything, there is nothing God cannot do in you and through you. The coward in us says better safe than sorry but God is saying nothing ventured, nothing gained.

1. Commander and Chief of Israel’s Army

--So how did Benaiah accomplish that? His rank is really a by-product of three calculated risks that he had taken decades before. What we do now, sets us up for the future.

--Being courageous now and remaining faithful now are merely catalyst for future blessings and even promotion. The Scriptures are full of examples.

--The first risk was, he took on two Moabite champions even though he was outnumbered. Or was he? If God be for us who can be against us.

--The second risk he took was to chase a lion down into a pit on a snowy day, and then, to be courageous enough to jump in the pit and kill the lion. Yikes!

--Third, he took on an Egyptian giant who was armed with a spear and all he has was a club in his hand. He took the spear away from the giant and killed him with it. 

--What if Benaiah would have said, there are too many Moabites for this to be a fair fight and would have retreated instead? It’s too dangerous chasing a 500-pound beast into a pit. 

--What if he would have said a seven-and-a-half-foot tall giant was too big? I believe it is safe to say that Benaiah would have never become David’s body guard or commander and chief.

--It was his willingness to risk life and limb that set him apart from all the rest. The scriptures say that he was more honored than the thirty. David’s elite fighting men.

2 Samuel 23:23 (NLT2) ²³ He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.

Mark Batterson – Lion Chasers are risk takers. They have learned that playing it safe is risky. They recognize that the best you can do if you run away from a lion is break even. You might save your skin, but you won’t have a lion skin hanging on your wall either. No risks equal no reward.

--As I look back over the years at my ministry here at Life Church, I realize that most of the wonderful things that have happened have been a by-product of taking calculated risks. 

--Twenty plus years ago as we considered building our sanctuary and surrounding classrooms, I was well aware of the risks involved. I knew pastors who left their churches because of that.

--They could not raise the money and then got bogged down in debt, and felt the only way of escape was to escape. I was concerned about how it would affect our missions.

--Our willingness to take risks gave God a great opportunity to show his grace. We raised 2.2 million dollars in 3 years and our missions giving went up instead of down. 9 acres became 26 acres. Debt free.

--Two Sundays in a roll we had visitors put in one-hundred thousand dollars. We had people in the community stopping by giving us large checks. The bank dropped our loan from 7 to 4 percent. 

--So what’s my point, we took a risk and God showed up again and again. The need was met and God received the glory. Pastors would call me and ask me about fund raising. I would just laugh.

2. Experiences that Change the Direction of Your Life.

July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong said this when he first stepped onto the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 

--To modify his quote a little for our purposes. One courageous small step can lead to one giant leap toward destiny. God, please give us courageous pioneers of the faith!

--There are experiences in our lives that forever change the trajectory of our lives; these are the moments that couldn’t be planned or predicted. These divide our lives into chapters. Lions and giants.

--Since we are talking about courage, let me exhort you to pray one of the most dangerous (scariest for some) prayers you can make:

Jesus, what do you want me to do with my life?

--By the way, the only thing more dangerous than praying this prayer or asking this question is not asking the question at all. Not my will but Your will be done.

--Most of the time, you will not get that answer right away. Why? God wants you to want that answer seriously enough that you begin to seek Him with a greater intensity.

Psalm 27:7-9 (NIV)
⁷  Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸  My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek.
⁹  Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 

--As you seek God’s face over a period of time with intensity, you will eventually look back in retrospect and be thankful it took time to hear His voice. Why? Easy answers produce shallow convictions. 

--If I acknowledge Him in all my ways and if I stop leaning on my own understanding, He will direct my path. That’s His promise from Proverbs 3. If it’s in the Bible…

3. Good is Often the Enemy of the Great.

--When I still lived in Texas and had a good opportunity to play Tournament Tennis for a living, many people thought I had lost my mind by moving to Lousisana to be a youth pastor.

--In 1983 I was working at a trucking company making about $32,000. A man who had been coming to my tennis matches (I didn’t know that) offered me a really good opportunity.

--He said, I will pay you $35,000 a year just to practice and play tennis. I will pay for your coaching, your travel, your equipment, and everything you need to succeed. I just want 10%.

--Wow! What a good opportunity. Kind of exciting to say the least. I asked the man to give me a week to pray and he agreed. I prayed one of those dangerous courageous prayers.

--Lord, you know what I have been offered. I know you have called me to preach but if you want to use tennis for your glory, I am willing. But if you open any door during this week, even if it doesn’t pay…

--I had to let the man know on Friday. That Thursday I got a call from a pastor in south Louisiana. I need a youth pastor but I can’t pay you anything. You have to work. I said yes. My first year…$3800.

--Though my three years there were very difficult, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Youth group grew from 6 to 120. Last year, number one in STL. Over $10,000. It was a great choice.

Hebrews 5:8 (NLT2) ⁸ Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

--Sometimes taking a calculated risk means giving up something that is good so you can experience something that is great. In a sense, sin is shortchanging ourselves and shortchanging God.

--It is settling for anything less than God’s best. Faith is the exact opposite. Faith is renouncing lesser goods for something greater. To get to your destiny, it may just be one small act of courage. 

--One courageous choice may be the only thing between you and your dream becoming reality. One small act of courage has changed the course of history. Ask Esther. She saved the Jews from genocide.

Esther 4:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶  "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

--One act of courage, one decision to choose the best and thousands were saved. What about you and me?