One of the most important fears we all face is risk.  And yet to risk nothing is to risk losing everything.  This is a principle of life that can’t be ignored or denied; only understood, obeyed, and profited from.

As we think about risk and being born into the world of risk, we also need to understand that we weren’t born without advantages.  Two of God’s best gifts He’s given to us are climbing gear, and an ascending spirit, which means we’re always going want to climb the mountains we face.  We’ll always want to advance the good.  It is our nobler angels that need to be understood, and fed.  And here’s how we do it.  Here are the four realities of real life:

1. Everything you enjoy comes from God.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, the Scriptures teach us.  Every day, every dollar, every moment, every relationship, every thing, every asset is a gift from God straight to you.  You didn’t get it by accident.  It was sent your way through the hands of a loving God.
2. Everything you enjoy gives you choices and options.  That’s why debt is so pernicious; because it, little by little, destroys our future by leveraging the future in order to enjoy something in the present for which we have not risked or reaped the benefit.
3. Everything you enjoy comes with consequences.  The Scriptures are clear.  To whom much is given, much will be demanded. And once you face the consequences you can’t simply pray them away or ask God to allow you to avoid them because oftentimes facing the consequences forces us to bring about the change that created the consequence in the first place.
4. Everything you enjoy you are responsible to leverage.  That’s what you do with the resources you have.  You have so many: personal, financial, intellectual, and relational resources.  Are you leveraging them into a bigger, brighter future or are you letting them spoil on the vine because you are afraid to take the right risk?