Risk Management

A few months ago I was asked to conduct a wedding. At the time I had just been officially “ordained” and could officiate weddings for the church.
But I was not yet legal in the eyes of the province.
I was honest with the family and told them I’d look into it. So after getting the proper paperwork in place and sent off to the proper authorities, I told the couple that I would be all set for the wedding. This, after all, was more than 10 weeks out from their big day.
It seemed like a reasonable risk.
Two weeks before the wedding it didn’t seem so reasonable.
A week before the wedding it seemed downright foolish.
A day before the wedding I was ready to save face and move back to the US.
After numerous calls on my part, I finally received confirmation- 3pm Friday afternoon- 4 hours before the rehearsal- I was officially given clearance to officiate weddings in Ontario.

I reflected with the couple that entering into marriage is a lot like risk management. You weigh the pros and cons, but in the end, you take a chance.

A lot of my work in planting this church comes down to risk management. We weigh the pros and cons, with think through our plans, we use our brains and we do the work necessary. We don’t just jump out on a limb and call it a leap of faith. A lot of well-intentioned Christians have done a lot of stupid things and called it leap of faith!

But in the end there is always risk- will the funding come through, will the volunteers show up, will we get the necessary equipment, will the people show up when we start services? There’s a lot of risk involved. And sometimes we have to wait until the final hour. But it’s been thrilling to experience, at every turn, how God and His people always come through.