I Will Risk ________ (And A Giveaway!)

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Recommended Reads - Restless :: incourage.me

I sat down in my closet to catch my breath. I think I was looking for something but I couldn’t remember what, and it seemed a good hiding place. Excitement and adrenaline were causing my hands to shake.

Nope. Fear was making my hands shake.

I hadn’t stopped to take it in. I sat down in my closet to consider that the dream I had been dreaming for years was finally real. Within two days thousands and thousands of women raised their hands, nodded their heads, deeply resonating with a longing to be a part of a story bigger than themselves.

IF:Gathering wasn’t pretend anymore.

And yet I was sitting on my closet floor in my pajamas.The two days were full of overwhelming support and conflict and I hadn’t quit shaking or responding long enough to decide how I felt about it.

I was a raised by a risk taker –  my dad is a Venture Capitalist.

Venture: to proceed despite the risk of danger

So the recollections of my childhood contain years of plenty and moments I heard whispers in the other room and wondered if it was ok to mention that I needed new jeans. I admired my Dad – he never seemed flippant or careless. He always found a way to take care of us and usually my jean purchases were in tact.

Risk always takes a willingness to lose.

And on my closet floor the pressure felt thick because no one could tell me that jumping off such a high cliff didn’t have consequences. I missed the dream of it- the dream of a thing is pure and applauded and untainted with the cold dark unknown water of something real.

The question everyone asks themselves looking before cliff jumping into the unknown deep…

What do I have to lose? 

It is the rare crazy one of us that doesn’t have 1000 answers to that question. We’ve built lives full of things we strongly don’t want to lose.

One of my favorite theology professors once said, “To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch Him come through. He starts to get real when you live like that.”

Every single one of us has a  risk we are either embracing or ignoring.

God seems to live on the other side of scary cliffs.

“For whoever wants to save his life will lost it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.” Matthew 16:25

And I know that if I run from this calling, it would be to save my life as I know it. I love my life as I know it…. my normal and simple and sane life.

But down deep, when I am not being shallow, I want more. I want more than normal and simple and sane. I want to find life, the kind of life you only find, if you lose normal and simple and sane.

See this life is meant to be lost. It will be lost whether I try to save it or not. So I may as well hand it over now, while He still could, perhaps, make some good use of it.

Restless. I believe in this project… I believe in it because as I wrote it, I lived it with women here in Austin and God moved. He set some free to dream again for the first time since college. He convicted some women of specific callings they had ignored and some of all of the fears holding them back. And others He gave a greater passion and vision for exactly what they were already doing.

Restless is a project about God inspired risk and what holds us back.

Are you ready to dream?

Grab some friends, and start the book today!

Recommended Reads - Restless :: incourage.me

Don’t forget that we’re giving away 5 copies of Restless this week! To be entered to win, leave a comment on this post, completing the following sentence:

Where is God calling you to risk and what is holding you back?

I will risk _____________.

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About the Author

Jennie is a Bible teacher, author, and the founder and visionary of IF:Gathering. She loves God and believes in this generation of women. She wakes up every day on a mission: disciple a generation.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
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  4. I will risk the sacrafice!!! Oh this is just perfect. I woke thinking about this and the. Here I am!!!!!!

  28. I will risk failing. I will risk trusting that if I step out in faith to do what He is calling me to do, that His grace will be sufficient.

  36. So interesting to find this post here today. Yesterday I practically flung my heart wide open and (internally) screamed, “God, you are WORTH the risk!”

    And He is.

    So I will risk comfort and heart-safety and my reputation and my dignity. {Gulp.} Here goes.

  40. I will risk getting past my fear and fulfilling the dreams that God has put in me. It is wrong for me to not use the gifts HE has given me. thank you Lord

  42. I will risk… Not indulging my flesh in food and entertainment– embracing God as enough to satisfy.

  43. I will risk leaving fear of “not enough” behind and picking up trust knowing God is my (and my family’s) provision. I think it is this fear that holds me back – fear that I have to maintain certain pieces of my life to make sure my family is cared for…

  45. I will risk comfort, security and certainty to bring healing and hope to women ravaged by darkness.

  50. saying “no” and not being the one everyone turns to because it feeds my pride more than it furthers His kingdom.

  54. We are all looking for something and we are all restless for something that we try to fill with things and the only way we can fill that void is with God our Father.

  57. I will risk failure…falling flat on my face…because my God is big enough to pick me up, brush off the dirt and set me back on my feet!

  63. Where is God calling you to risk and what is holding you back?
    God is calling me to self-confidence and fear of failure holds me back.

    I will risk failure and people knowing my imperfections. Perfection is God’s alone.

  67. I will risk being – living my life one step at a time – and finding satisfaction in the everyday tasks and interactions that come my way.

  68. I will risk taking chances, being in the moment, listening to the nudges (and acting on) the things God intends for me, not saying yes to everyone else to “please”, and being vulnerable and not afraid to fail.

  71. I will resist what I feel people say about me……I will resist this physical pain I have every day…….God Bless all!!

  72. Oh, this hurts….I will risk:
    being accepted.
    Being liked, accepted, admired, blah blah blah, is something I grip tightly to. Really, the only love and acceptance I need is from Jesus – and I already have that! Oh, to let go – and let God.

  75. I will risk:
    the illusion that I can protect my children and I will place their futures in His hands, where they are safest…

  79. I will risk walking through the shadows of doubt, fear, hesitation, unworthiness — shadows that bring death to hope, determination and forward movement.

  85. Fear!! Frozen fear that God really does have a plan for me to prosper and do good…Gods plan…not mine. Risking fear.. letting go..free falling..believing, trusting, surrendering…then Lord seriously please help me….doing what He says.

  86. Allowing others to see me as I really am, taking off the masks and unbuiling the walls I hide behind. Even though it scares me just to write that!

  88. I will risk telling my story to a room full of teenagers who need to know that Christ is the only sure thing.

  90. I will risk….writing again…. I really need to make this important…too many whispers in the God breeze to ignore.

  93. I will risk “the American dream”. I have spent the last seven months traveling between the US and Haiti teaching English, and honestly it is better than having a house, and a car, and money here. It is a much better dream.

  99. I will risk giving up what I believe is mine, but is really the Lord’s-“my” time, “my” money, “my” knowledge, “my” resources.

  100. I will risk my reputation… my comfortable life… rejection – all to follow God in the dreams He is stirring in me.

  112. My prayer is “I will risk everything” Holding me back, is the fear of rejection, approval of those in authority, and most of all failing.

  114. God is calling me to write from the heart. I will risk my doubts and fears and not having all the right answers to allow Him to speak through me.

  116. I will risk getting to know God better and leave my life fully in His Hands…. as I have been doing, and have been so blessed by. Great things happen when we continue to walk surrendered to God! 🙂 he’s so faithful!!!!

  119. I will risk my idea of what the future should look like for His greater plan of what it can be.

  120. I will risk my idea..my control of EVERY situation and trust in God to see me and my family thru!!

  126. I will risk having my heart broken, again, by my little sister.
    I will risk not having the control I seem to desire and crave.
    I will risk having a story to tell.
    I will risk telling it.

  128. I will risk the unknowns. Lord, help me trust that You have it all in control-even my physical limitations due to chronic pain.

  129. God is calling me to launch a real-life honest-to-goodness blog, a platform for recording all the ways God is bringing me and my family alive in Him, an “against forgetting” collection–a determination to remember His presence & wonders in and around me. I will risk misunderstanding. I will risk embarrassment. I will risk exposure and vulnerability.

    I will risk God blowing up the boxes I have Him in. I will risk His totally changing my life and perspective.

  133. I will risk my own “comfort” and energy for the sake of sacrificially loving and genuinely ministering to those where the Lord has me right now; because when it comes down to it, even when it seems hardest to do so, there really is nothing more comfortable and fulfilling than being the hands and feet of Jesus.

  136. I will risk …. every fearful breath.

    Our response to fear is often breathing in when we see somthing dangerous coming our way. I know the Bible tells us, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” I want to live a fearless life where I am not just praising Him because I have breath, but because He saved me, He healed me, and He has kept me. I hope to one day not just praise Him by breathing beyond fear, and praise Him as I walk toward what He has called me, as I touch those He has put in my reach, and as I live the abundant life He has called me to ilve. We are not made for chains that limit our destination. We are made to live free from boundaries, free from limits, free from chains.

  138. I will risk my deep fear of failure and looking incompetent – especially when it comes to loving others.

  141. I will risk having everything my way and trust that God will guide me and my family towards a faith filled future.

  143. I will risk the “perfect” plans that I have for myself in order to accomplish the PERFECT plans God has in store for my family!

  146. I would like to say “I will risk just being comfortable with bring me.” But, I’m not there. Yet …

  147. I will risk being told “No” as I submit a 4 week study on Ruth for possible publication/translation to Spanish! (And after I submit it, I will probably go throw up! 🙂

  149. I will risk being ostracized for my beliefs… the more real and the less “Christian-ese” I become the better I feel about myself and my relationship to God.

    The more I open up about my deeply felt (mostly hidden) relationship with God has made me more of a “target” with some friends/co-workers but there is something almost refreshing about being “persecuted” (used here in the lighted sense of the word) for believing in God.

    I am holding tight to the below verse each day:

    Matthew 5:10
    Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

  150. I am risking the everyday, fearful me. Dreaming is easy, fun–doing is hard, and downright terrifying sometimes.

    And again, God, in His timeliness, has set this right in front of me and my sisters who are going to #RiskRejection. And that means I’m on the right track–straight to the edge of that cliff…

  155. I will risk my grades…last semester it seemed that God was attempting to pry them out of my fists (and since he is God, he is successful, but it hurt)…this semester I will try to hold them in open hands…if serving him means accepting bad grades and maybe even re-taking classes then I will do it…though I’d prefer he let me get good grades…

  158. I will risk being terrified (anxiety) to achieve inner peace with God. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to “let go and let God.”

  161. I will risk comfort, time, relationships hobbies: all things old … to receive all things new.

  166. I will risk my all – not just quoting song lyrics here. I’m where I am in life with plenty of education, multiple degrees, professional experiences, variety of creative accomplishments, multiple ministry positions under my belt and, yet, I still have long-held “perfect” dreams unfulfilled. Now I can add a failed marriage, 10-12 years lost time which God is redeeming, my body/soul/spirit in process of healing from traumatic crisis, unable to work, no income, childless and there is nothing I have that I wouldn’t risk loosing as I seek God with my whole heart and pursue His plans, purposes and yield to him my dreams.

  171. I’m willing to risk stepping on a plane to India to minister to women with no hope despite the cost, the poor living situations, and the fear of the unknown.

  173. I will risk what’s been hidden my entire life, protected behind my wall of safety for the chance to live life as GOD created me to be

  175. I will risk not only my own safety & sense of normalcy, but my children’s as well as my husband & I follow God’s leading us to move to the inner city.

  179. I will risk the safety and comfort of being a private person and open up to share more of the journey that I have been on. Fear of being transparent has held me back but I keep hearing (sermons, blogs, twitter, Facebook) that I need to open up and tell my story.

  184. God is calling me to be more vocal for HIM. I will risk by sharing my testimony at church this Sunday. Please pray for me.

  186. I will risk feeling out of control and letting things happen in God’s timing even if it doesn’t fit my “box”.

  188. I will risk comfort to believe. Just so I can see the glory of God move. When he shows up. Miracles happen. I want to see signs and wonders

  190. I will risk being a single mom, with no certain income, to leave my abusive marriage.
    When I leave I will have peaceful safe space, and I will risk ridicule to write.

  191. I will risk honesty and openness about who I truly am and will stop hiding in my little shell, even though I may lose my friends.

  197. I am a mom to three Jewels; Will, Stephen and Katherine and a mentor to many other young people. The risk I want to take this year is to “allow God To Take Over”, really, they are amazing people, I have taught them as much as I can so now I want to peer over and watch what God will do in their life and not be afraid they will stumble, fall, miss it because they will. But I will be the cheerleader to help them, encourage them to never stop dreaming, you see, that is where it all begins, Dreaming, A Call, Goals, Sacrifice, Purpose.

  198. I will risk homeschooling. It’s out of my comfort zone of cultural norm, but these kids are worth it:)

  200. I will risk everything to be where the Lord wants me. The fear of hearing the Lord incorrectly and making the wrong choices holds me back.

  202. I will risk my happiness. The fear of not being happy, of not doing what I want in this life holds me back every day from fully enjoying being a wife and mother. I have dreams that may never come true because I am making the choice to follow the path God has for me. I know deep down that if I follow willingly things will be great. But I am having a hard time with the willingness. So I will risk my happiness.

  207. I will risk trusting God with all my heart this year , not to lean on my own understanding; to submit all my ways to Him completely. I will then wait and see.

  208. I will risk anything standing in the way of obedience to the Lord’s still, small voice. NOTHING is worth holding onto that keeps you from obeying Christ’s whispered will, always verified by His Word.

  213. I will risk progression of my disease to go on a missons trip that I have been felt led to but found many excuses to not follow through.