Taking risks can be scary. My first inclination is often to say, “No, what if I fail? What if others don’t like it?” The list goes on. If I take a worldly look at success, I would be paralyzed. Million dollar homes, expensive cars, and designer clothes are the measure of success. Right? I can’t win. I can’t measure up.

For most of my life failure equalled not being good enough as a person. Failure meant their was something inherently wrong with me.  Failure doesn’t mean any of those things. Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. I’ve taken on a paradigm shift. My new mantra is “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” Okay, I stole it from a book by John Maxwell of the same title. It’s taking on a learning posture rather than, “I’m bad” posture.

The learning posture makes it easier to take risks, to trust God when He calls me to something new that’s out of my comfort zone such as writing a blog or a book :0) Truth is God is going to call us to do things that feels risky and uncomfortable.

Recently my sister and two cousins to a risk. They became the owners of Just Like Grandma’s in Osakis MN. I’m so proud of them for stepping out and taking a risk. This is a new venture for all of them. There is a beautiful tea room with yummy food and four buildings to shop your way through.

Being at their grand opening was so fun. I can’t wait to see where God takes them on this journey. When the disciples dropped their nets to follow Jesus, they had no idea what the journey was going to hold. Scripture is filled with stories of people taking risks.

Experience tells me my sister and cousins are going to learn things about themselves and their faith that they never expected. They will have a deeper appreciation for their strengths and hopefully see how God stood in the gap in times of weakness.

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully Colossians 1:11 (NIV).

Taking risks can be scary, but the journey has so much to offer. When we focus on the journey and what we can learn, failure is no longer an option. The risk becomes worth it. Are you being called to take a risk? What’s holding you back? Remember, you will be made strong.

What do you do to remain strong in times of risk? Share here and we can encourage each other.