Are you terrified of risk?
Whether you’re moving into OCD treatment, leaving anxiety, or finding a more biblical church, there is risk involved.
You have to commit yourself to the treatment your therapist recommends when it doesn’t feel true yet.
You have to commit yourself to a good God who doesn’t seem real yet.
You have to move forward with a dream or calling that doesn’t seem certain yet.
Even though it's uncomfortable, risk is an important way we make contact with reality. As long as we hide in our own little huddles—“How can I be sure? What is real?”—we’ll never make progress. We need to learn to move forward, take a risk, and cooperate with things we haven’t yet fully understood.
It’s easy to want to eliminate all risk. We want to wait until everything is completely clear. But you know what? That’s impossible. Sometimes, we have to move forward, even when we’re not 100% sure.
Einstein moved forward before he was 100% sure that an electric lightbulb was a possibility.
Isaac Newton moved forward before he knew what he was searching for.
Scientists weren't sure what they would find, but they took the “risk of being transformed.”[1]
When I started my journey of healing from OCD, I was afraid of doing exposure and response prevention. I was afraid my therapist didn’t know what he was talking about. Then he reminded me that the only way to find out God's will is to test it:
"By testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
Hebrews 5:14 “The mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
Neither of these verses say, “Hide in your room until you are 100% sure what God wants you to do.” They tell us to test God’s will and train our powers of discernment by practicing. God doesn't fault us for the discovery process.
You’ll never learn to discern good and evil if you never get out there and try it out. You can't hide forever.
Trust. Trust is opening the door in welcome, not knowing who is standing on the other side.[2] Trust is moving forward in anticipation of what you will find.
Bob Goff says, "We're all waiting for more information, more clarity, more certainty... Here's the deal: All those deep urgings you feel to step toward the beautiful, courageous thing you're afraid to do--you probably won't always have the chance. Now is the time. Your life, your experiences, and your faith are your green lights. Make your move."[3]
Perhaps you're not sure you're hearing God’s voice. You're not sure if you correctly understood your intuition. After so many years of doubting, how can you be sure you’re seeing accurately?
One way we can remedy that is by moving forward and finding out. If it's a mirage, the only way to find out is to go closer. When we move forward, we often find out whether our hunch was accurate—or not.
Trust your therapist sees you more accurately than you see yourself.
Trust your healthy intuition.
Trust God and the gentle guides that help you understand him.
Open the door to a new way of seeing the world.
What are you afraid to do because you don’t know what you will find?
Will you take the risk of being transformed?
[1] Esther Lightcap Meek, Loving to Know
[2] Esther Lightcap Meek, Loving to Know
[3] Bob Goff, Everybody, Always, pg 92