But not even Joshua could explode the myth of safety. The
people were drunk in a dreamworld of security. And they tried
to stone Caleb and Joshua. The result was thousands of wasted
lives and wasted years. It was clearly wrong not to take the risk
of battling the giants in the land of Canaan. Oh, how much is
wasted when we do not risk for the cause of God!...I have been assuming that the power and the motive behind
taking risks for the cause of God is not heroism, or the lust for
adventure, or the courage of self-reliance, or the need to earn
God’s good will, but rather faith in the all-providing, all-ruling,
all-satisfying Son of God, Jesus Christ. The strength to risk losing
face for the sake of Christ is the faith that God’s love will lift
up your face in the end and vindicate your cause...In this
way risk reflects God’s value, not our valor...Every loss we risk
in order to make much of Christ, God promises to restore a thousandfold
with his all-satisfying fellowship.
John Piper
Don't Waste Your Life pp89
