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Authors: Casey Treat

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Faith Takes Risks
W
hen you hear the word
risk,
how do you respond? Does your face get flushed with excitement for a new adventure, or does your hand reach down to grab a brown paper bag in case you start to hyperventilate? If your life was to be made into a movie, would it be classified as an action/thriller or a slow-paced slice-of-life film? So many of us were brought up to play it safe, to be careful, and to never rock the boat, but could you imagine what our Christianity would look like today if Jesus had lived His life like this?
My wife, Wendy, is a real risk taker. I’ve been blessed to have her as a partner in life and ministry because much of what God has called us to do has required both of us to step out with extreme faith. She’s always been right by my side ready to take leaps off of huge cliffs with total faith in God. So I was surprised by what happened when I saw her reading the last pages of a novel she had recently purchased, and I asked, “Have you finished that book already?”
She smiled at me and said, “No, I’m reading the last few pages to see how it turns out so I can decide if I want to read it or not. If it has a good ending, then I know I’ll like it, but if it’s got a bad ending, I’m not even going to waste my time.”
I just laughed and said, “You go for it, baby.”
I can understand a person not wanting to give the space and time to a book they might not like. No big deal. But throughout over thirty years of teaching and ministering to people, I have come across countless individuals who live every aspect of their lives the way Wendy approached this novel. They want to have a guarantee of a happy, successful ending before they try anything new or go out of their comfort zone. The only problem is that a person cannot live a powerful Christian life if they have to
see
everything with their eyes before they choose to trust God. Everything about God and every aspect of our Christianity can only be experienced by faith.
In the New King James Version of the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen.” But I especially love the Amplified Version (AMP) of this verse: “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.]” Faith believes in something we can not see. Faith is trusting even when we don’t understand or when we are not sure what the end result will be. Faith sees factual things which have not yet been revealed to our senses. Any kind of faith is risk, and if we choose to never take any risks, then we will probably never live by faith.
Faith is trusting even when we don’t understand or when we are not sure what the end result will be.
Now before you opt out, thinking,
Taking a risk scares me—I’m just not that kind of a person,
recognize that’s not really true because you take risks every day. You wake up, get ready for work, and when you drive away in your car, you are taking a risk on the highway. You don’t know for certain you won’t get into a car accident before you make it to work or that the guy driving next to you hasn’t been out partying all night. But you take the risk and go to work anyway. When it is lunchtime, you drive up to a window, throw money at a person who throws back a sack of food, and you eat it! Now
that’s
a risk—you don’t know where that meat came from or what was happening back at the grill while it was cooking. But you eat it anyway.
This morning, I took a vitamin, and I thought,
I don’t have a clue what’s in this thing.
So I read the box and still had no clue because I don’t know what most of those ingredients are, let alone how to pronounce them. However, I take the risk every day, trusting that the people who made those vitamins are honest and know more than me, that they are actually filling the capsules with something other than sugar, and that by swallowing the tablets I’m going to feel better. So it’s safe to say we are all risk takers in one way or another; some are just more intentional in their risk taking than others.
I realize it’s important for people to feel a sense of security; it’s part of our human makeup to gravitate toward those things that we think are safe, both physically and emotionally. Many times we put our trust and security in things like the government, Social Security, or our union affiliation. But, really, how secure are any of these organizations? And what kind of guarantees are there in the political, cultural, or economic systems in our various countries? All of these can rise and fall, can come and go, but there is only One who remains the same through any political turmoil, any cultural deterioration, or any economic downturn. Jesus and His Word are the sole foundations any person can put his trust in and build his life upon.
Water Walker or Boat Stayer?
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. (Matthew 22-31)
This is an incredible story, and many of us have probably seen the painting of Peter walking on the water, beginning to sink, and Jesus reaching out His hand to save him. But I think we should repaint that picture to demonstrate what happened just moments before, because more incredible than the image of Jesus lending a hand to the sinking Peter is simply the visual of that brave man who risked his life to step out in faith and walk on the water! The rest of those turkeys stayed in the boat, where they thought they’d be safer. I want to see a scene clearly depicting these two types of people: water walkers and boat stayers.
Boat stayers don’t need God to do much in their lives because they are trusting in the natural supplies of the world, and they don’t think outside the realms of this context. It didn’t occur to the other disciples to get out of the boat; they were just trying to wrap their minds around the fact Jesus was out there on the water. Even after Peter jumped out of the boat and they saw him walking, they still didn’t think to participate. Any one of them could have decided to join in on the miracle, but they didn’t have the faith. Boat stayers are analytical and try to figure everything out
first
before taking any risks. They have to create a plan, a budget, and other options in case the first one starts to go under. They need to feel secure.
A friend of mine was telling me how excited he was about the new health insurance policy his company was now providing. It was an excellent plan and covered everything for his whole family. He was saying how much better he felt now that he had this and how much more security he had for his family. After he left I thought,
That’s great to have a plan that covers all the medical expenses for any type of sickness. But what about all the diseases there is no medical treatment for? What about the conditions the doctors cannot treat? Where will his security be then?
I would rather place all my trust and security in God and His Word than in any kind of policy the world has to offer. I’m not advising we forgo participating in health insurance; I’m saying we should not place our sense of security in it. If we put our trust in the world, then at some point, we are going to be dissatisfied. When we have faith in God and find our security in Him, we will never be disappointed.
Water walkers, on the other hand, are ready and willing to jump out of the boat and take risks. Peter is the one we still talk about over two thousand years later, because he was the only one who was brave enough to step out with faith in the Lord’s word. Yes, he did sink, but not all the way. The passage says he
began
to sink and “immediately” Jesus grabbed him. Who knows? Peter could have only sunk to his ankles or his knees—it doesn’t say he gurgled out “Save me, Lord!” because the water was neck deep. He may have just barely started to sink before Jesus took his hand. Either way, the point is, Peter got out of his comfort zone, and the result was, he was able to walk on water alongside Jesus.
I’d much rather be floundering out on the sea right next to Jesus, attempting to accomplish something nobody else has ever done, than to be huddled together with a bunch of onlooking boat stayers. I’d rather take a risk trusting in Jesus than playing it safe back in that boat. Besides, who do you think was safer in that storm: the guy who had hold of Jesus’ hand or the other eleven inside the boat being tossed around by the waves?
How many great companies have never been birthed because of a businessperson who couldn’t take the risk? How many kids would have grown up to do amazing things except they were trained to play it safe and to choose the “sure things” in life? How many lives are being lived in a smaller way than God intended simply because these people were afraid to trust in the dreams He has placed in their hearts? What kind of person are you? A boat stayer or a water walker? The choice is yours!
Faith Takes Action
Everything Wendy and I, and the leadership teams at Casey Treat Ministries, have accomplished over the last thirty years has been completely by faith. Back in 1979, when we were making plans to start our church, we chose the date January 6, 1980, to be our very first service. We found a good location for us to hold services, a local Christian school in South Seattle, and we asked permission to use their facility. Before we had even been given the final approval from that school, we had passed out a thousand little yellow flyers advertising the date, place, and time of our first service. The next week when they called to tell us we could use their building, I thought,
Well, thank God, because we already passed out all those flyers!
Maybe we acted a tiny bit prematurely, but we were on fire for God and being fueled by faith. We weren’t content to wait around for something good to happen for us. We were going to take action and walk by faith. Many Christians spend a great deal of time praying for a new start or a higher level in their lives but never actually step out and do anything to make it happen. They are waiting for God to do it for them, but as we have already talked about, God cannot do what He wants to in our lives . . . He can only do things for which we will have the faith for Him to do.
A few years after the church started, we sensed God telling us to start our television ministry. I walked into a Seattle TV studio to discuss the terms with the station manager, and I’ll never forget our conversation. “Do you have a story board for your program?” he asked. I said, “No.” “Do you have a script?” I said, “I have a Bible—that’ll be my script.” He looked at me with a smile and replied, “You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?” To which I answered matter-of-factly, “Not a clue.” I was just walking by faith.
He told me I needed to prepay ten thousand dollars in order for them to guarantee us any airtime. We said our good-byes and I’m sure he thought he’d never see me again. But he underestimated my faith. I left the station and went straight to the one rich man we had in our church and shared with him the vision of our television broadcast. He said he could give me a portion of it, and then I went to the rest of the church that Sunday and cast the vision to the congregation. The rest of the money was received, and we had the amount we needed to start the broadcast.
I walked back in the studio on Monday morning with the check for ten thousand dollars. The station manager was shocked. “What’s this?”
I just smiled and said, “When do I start?”
“You’re
serious
?” he said, shaking his head.
“As a heart attack.”
And the television ministry was launched. No equipment, no experience, no money. We had no idea what we were doing. We were willing to take risks, to take action, and we had faith in God.
I’m not saying any person should start their ministry or business exactly like we did; I’m simply saying that in every aspect of life—your career, your family life, your relationship with God—if you will walk by faith, God will show up and help you accomplish amazing things. He will walk beside you and do things you could never have asked or imagined, and you will be able to say, “God, you are so good!” But if you live the way the world suggests—play it safe, hold back, and never take any risks—you will never be out there on the water where Jesus is, and you will never feel God taking your hand and saying, “Come on, let’s make this thing happen!”
Faith takes risks by taking action.
Faith takes risks by taking action. If we are not acting on the Word of God in our lives, then our faith cannot work. Our faith is just vain words and empty wishes. James 2:14, 20 says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? . . . But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” In other words, faith without a corresponding action is void of any life or power and cannot bring about the promises, the blessings, and the miracles of God in our lives.
Every time God sees us serving and helping in our churches: ushering, door greeting, praying, helping out with the nursery or the children’s church, He sees our actions and knows we love the house of God. Every time He sees us witness to our co-workers, love somebody in the name of Christ, feed the poor, or help the hurting people in our neighborhoods, He sees our action confirming our faith in His Word and His ways. Every time He sees us tithe and give a special offering, He sees we trust Him to be our provider. Every time we pray and lay hands on the sick, we believe He is our healer.
God responds to our faith and to our actions. Deuteronomy 16:15 says, “The Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.” It doesn’t say the Lord will bless our faith, or our wishes, or even in those areas we know He wants to bless us. It says He will bless the work of our hands, in anything that we will
do
. The woman with the sick daughter was relentlessly persistent in her pursuit of Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood crawled her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. The blind man refused to stay silent and cried out over and over to Jesus. Each person took a step of faith toward Jesus with a corresponding action. They received their miracle because their faith allowed them to take aggressive action.
What are you giving Jesus to work with? Are you just sitting and praying and hoping God will come and make a change in your life? Or are you going for it—jumping out of the boat—full of faith in the Word of God? If you do nothing, then He can bless nothing, but if you will step out in faith with some corresponding actions, then you will give God something to work with, and His blessings can begin to overflow in every area of your life!

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