Cost of Playing It Safe [Take the Leap]

What if the most dangerous thing you can do is play it safe?

We've been taught that safety is smart... Don't rock the boat...Take the sure thing. But what if playing it safe is actually costing you more than stepping out ever would?

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 about a master who gave three servants talents. Two invested their talents and multiplied them. But the third servant -- the one who played it safe -- buried his talent in the ground out of fear.

The master's response? "You wicked, lazy servant."

That might sound harsh. But look at what the Master was really saying: I gave you something valuable, and fear made you waste it. Playing it safe didn't protect the servant. It cost him everything.

What "Playing It Safe" Really Looks Like...

We don't always recognize when we're playing it safe. It doesn't look like laziness. It looks like:

• Staying in a job that's comfortable but is stifling your purpose

• Keeping your gift private because you're afraid of criticism

• Waiting for the logical "the right time" that never comes

• Saying "I'm just being wise" when you're really just being afraid

Playing it safe feels responsible, but key word..."feels".

Taking the Leap of Faith...

Every act of faith in scripture would be viewed as a risk:

• Abraham leaving his homeland with no map (Genesis 12:1)

• Rahab hiding the spies and betraying her own city (Joshua 2)

• David standing before a giant with 5 smooth stones (1 Samuel 17:4-54)

• Paul preaching the gospel knowing it would land him in prison (Acts 16:23-24)

None of these people played it safe. They walked forward without fear, but with boldness because of their confidence in the power of God.

2 Timothy 1:7 -- "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Fear will always attempt to disguise itself as wisdom. It'll tell you to wait, to plan more, to be "realistic." But there comes a point where planning becomes procrastination, wisdom becomes an excuse, and you forget that you serve an "outside the box" God.

So What Will It Cost...

Here's what playing it safe actually costs you:

• Time. Years go by while you wait for what you think is the perfect moment.

• Impact. The people God assigned you to reach are still waiting.

• Growth. You can't fully grow from the sidelines. On the job training is needed, so go for it.

• Peace. There is no peace in sitting on a calling...only restlessness.

• Obedience. At the end of the day, playing it safe is disobedience dressed in nice clothes.

  
  

Quit the Excuses. It's Time to Step Out!

I'm not telling you to be reckless. I'm telling you to be obedient. There's a difference.

God isn't asking you to jump without a parachute. He's asking you to jump, knowing HE is the parachute.

So launch the ministry. Write the book. Start the business. Have the hard conversation. Leave the places and faces that are holding you in the old when God is taking you in the new.

Stop burying your talent. Stop hiding behind "one day." Stop playing small when God called you to something peculiar.

Proverbs 28:1 -- "The righteous are as bold as a lion."

Be bold. Be peculiar. And stop playing it safe.

Want to go deeper?

Check out my Coaching Services to help you grow in boldness and step out from the sidelines and onto the field!