Safety vs. Bravery

Sean Litton, a young successful attorney on the upswing of his career and supporting a family, felt the call to help the abused in the world. Gary Hougen in his book “Just Courage” writes about Sean’s struggle between SAFETY and BRAVERY. Sean’s choice to leave his rising career to run a field office for rescuing children out of sex slavery in SE Asia was a struggle. Many would call it crazy. Heck, many DID call it crazy! Especially since he had a young family and was joining a dangerous job in a 3rd world country! As Sean struggled he said this (taken from pg 122 of Just Courage. . .seriously, order this book NOW! I recommend this as highly as any other book I've ever read)

“4 things were holding me back from taking the plunge into “losing my life” to test Jesus’ promise that I would gain something more.

1. Comfort - the state of contented well-being. And we know what this is about: a nice pillow, a couch, air conditioning, a vanilla latte.
2. Security - freedom from danger
3. Control - having the power over circumstances and events to achieve a desired outcome.
4. Sucess - the appearance of wealth and the high regard of your peers

Comfort. Security. Control. Success. These are the four things Sean said he had to let go of in order to get the life that Jesus promised.

According to Sean, he got 4 things in return:
Adventure
Faith
Miracle
Deep knowledge of Jesus

Who among us wouldn’t want these?”

Powerful stuff. Do I want to be safe? or Brave? Reminds me once again of the line in CS Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” when Susan asks “Is Aslan safe?” and the beaver responds, “No, but he is good”

Amen, amen, amen. . .my heart resounds. My heart longs not for safety but adventure, but when put in a position of adventure my heart is checked “do I trust HIM?”. Somehow I am made for this great adventure and yet it is the very thing that stirs up my greatest fears. I’m pretty sure that is an intentional move on behalf of my creator.

He made me to NEED to TRUST Him! If I ever want to live the great adventure that I feel deep in my soul, I must come to the edge of my greatest fears and jump. I must choose when it comes not just to lip service but to action, that I trust HIM and want to take the leap, like Sean did, into Adventure, Faith, Miracles and a Deeper Knowledge of Jesus.

“If you will lose your life for my sake, you will find it” ~ Jesus

PS: remember to go order your copy of Just Courage now. . .order it from the www.justcourage.com site and it will directly benefit IJM!