Friday, July 3, 2009

Reckless

I opened my daily devotion, and the theme verse for the day was Matthew 14:29-30, "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

When I first starting reading, I thought to myself, "oh, I know this passage backwards and forwards and in my sleep - the story of Peter stepping out in faith onto the stormy waves. A great story of faith and keeping our eyes focused on Christ."

But today there was a different focus, and the key word used was "reckless". It went on to explain that we are to be reckless in our faith - not habitual, not routine, not guarded. But reckless.

If you ask me, reckless doesnt sound like a good thing, does it? Who wants to be considered a "reckless person"? I know I dont!

I looked up the official definition of reckless, and it said this: utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action; without caution.

Okay, so when it comes to doing stupid things in life without any caution or thought, reckless is definitely not a good thing. Reckless behavior usually results in negative consequences, pain and problems. Trust me, Ive been there.

But when it comes to our faith, recklessness would be an awesome quality to have.

Reckless faith would be a faith so strong that we live out loud for God, regardless of the consequences.

That we open ourselves up to be the hands and feet of Christ, in situations where most people are keeping their distance.

That we try to reach people who everyone else has deemed unreachable.

That we love people, who are not lovable and dont return that love.

That we forgive people, who dont deserve our forgiveness, making other people wonder if we have our head own straight.

Reckless faith. Faithful, without fear of consequence or judgement.

Peter was reckless, in earthly terms, because he jumped out of the boat during a raging storm without a flotation device, into waves that were big enough to capsize his entire boat. But actually, it wasnt Peter that was reckless, it was Peters faith.

He obeyed, without thinking. I bet Jesus liked that.

As I thought more about this term, I determined that by "reckless faith", God means we need to recognize and do what He would have us do - regardless.

Reckless in our faithful actions, our faithful thoughts, and our faithful words, and reckless in our service.

About seven years ago, I felt God calling me to lead the womens ministry at my church. At the time I was the poster child for the overwhelmed-overcommitted-stressed out-crazed eyeball career woman/mom trying to do it all. But after much prayer and anticipation, I agreed to assume the role. Reckless? Yes. Did Jesus like it? I bet so. And it drew me closer to Him than ever before.

A few years later, God called me again to step out of my boat, and asked me to share my testimony with others, and speak and write, knowing full well it would cause me embarassment and hurt. But after years of not obeying, I finally took that first step. I had to share experiences that I wasnt proud of, but God had called me to reckless faith. And I was blessed by that recklessness.

There may be a few other times in my life when I exhibited reckless faith, but there are many more countless times where I chose to stay safely in my boat.

It is so much easier to stay afloat in the safety of our comfort zone, than to step out into stormy waters hoping that Jesus will be there to rescue us. That my friend, is why it is called reckless. Reckless dependence, and reckless trust.

How is God calling you to be reckless for Him today?

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Tracie, I so enjoyed your blog today. I too am an over-worker, stressed to the max career woman and mom. Recently the Lord has called me and my husband to full time Children's Ministries. We are the children's ministry directors at our local church and through the east Tennesee District within our church denomation. We both work full time jobs, so when the Lord said FT Ministry my question was How? I will tell you the Lord knows the how we just have to have reckless faith. Thank you for this comfirmation. God Bless you. Melissa

Joyful said...

I love the idea of reckless faith. It's at those moments we really meet God as we abandon everything for the sake of His call (as Steven Curtis Chapman sings).

I hate to admit that my last real step of reckless faith was a year ago when I faced my fear to step onto that plane to fly to NC to attend "She Speaks".

Needing to see His power again and exclaim, "Look what the Lord has done!"

Challenging post my friend,
Joy