Faith at the Edge: How Risk Leads to God Encounters

When we step beyond comfort and into risk, we often find God waiting. In this reflection on fear, faith, and formation, discover how unsafe places can become sacred ground where divine encounters shap

Jun 13, 2025

This month, I’m reflecting on the prompts that led me toward taking the big step back to school. The process began well over a year ago, when I started exploring various options to determine what might be a good fit for me. However, this series of posts will focus on the 2025 calendar year.

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andy bondurant

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I’m 50, My Kids Are Grown, and I’m Starting Over (Sort Of)

Life Update

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How did I get here?

Now that I’ve made a decision, let’s look back at what I was reading, thinking, and hearing from God as I was making my final choice. To help me with this, I scanned through my journals. I keep multiple journals going at the same time, but two were particularly helpful in this process.

One journal is from my daily bible reading. Most days, I come across a verse or two from my reading that resonates with me where I am. I will copy that verse into my journal and jot a few thoughts from that scripture.

The other journal is specifically related to my Word of the Year (2025 is "KNOWLEDGE"). When I come across something specifically related to the theme of knowledge, I will make a note in this journal. It could be Scripture, an idea from a book, something I hear on the radio or from a podcast, or an observation from life around me.

These were the two sources I turned to as I reflected on the process of making a significant decision. One final note: In general, I knew a change was coming. I had determined that by the Fall of 2026, I would take a definitive step toward what was next.

The big question I wanted to answer: What was next?

Safety at all costs isn’t safe at all.

Truth be known, I’ve already begun school. In my acceptance information, I was given a suggested list of books to read this summer. I ordered all seven.1 This week, I began reading The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt.

The book was written in 2018, but, as I’ve observed both as a parent and a pastor, it may be more accurate today than it was seven or eight years ago. The authors write from the premise that we’ve made the world too safe for our children. The authors cite the work of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who coined the term “antifragile,” meaning humans are designed physically and mentally (and I would add spiritually) to be pushed hard. We develop strength and health by intentionally being put into difficult situations.

If we don’t physically exercise our bodies, our muscles will atrophy and our bones will become brittle. Likewise, if we don’t exercise our minds, then we will break easily under pressure. We need to challenge ourselves with thinking we may not agree with—not to change our minds, but to understand how another person thinks.

If we don’t take risks, we don’t grow. In fact, if we don’t take risks, we atrophy. We can’t always play it safe.

I was reminded of this in the most personal way on a recent hike in Zion National Park. The Angel’s Landing hike is ranked as one of the most dangerous hikes in America, and I felt it firsthand. The last half-mile is a drop-off of thousands of feet on your right or left (and sometimes on both your right and left).

I was scared spitless and almost gave up partway through. After sitting and considering what it would mean not to take the risk, I hiked the final few thousand feet to the peak.

I grew by taking that risk.

Photo of Andy from the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park

Jesus didn’t always play it safe.

This brings me to what I wrote in my journal in April:

“Jesus isn’t leading me into only safe places.”

Mark 4 contains the famous passage where Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a great storm blew in. Jesus awakens from his nap to calmly quiet the storm. It’s important to remember a couple of things about this passage:

Jesus was fully God and fully man. This means Jesus was not surprised by the storm that came up, nor was Jesus surprised to be awakened by a group of fear-stricken disciples.
Jesus led his disciples onto the lake. Again, Jesus wasn’t surprised by the storm, which suggests that he specifically led his disciples onto the boat to encounter it.

Let’s stop here for a moment.

I want you to make sure you catch what happened. Jesus knew the storm was coming, AND he purposefully took his disciples onto the lake. Jesus didn’t play it safe with the men entrusted to his care. He led them into difficult and scary places.

Jesus isn’t a God of safety. He doesn’t always lead me to placid streams, but at times he leads me into the wilderness. If I follow God, I will experience the storm and the chaos. It reminds me of the line from C.S. Lewis’s famous children’s book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie children are learning about the King before they meet him with their guides, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver.

“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"...
"Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”
-C.S. Lewis | The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

So, what can we take away from this? What does it mean to follow a good but unsafe God?

1. God shapes us when he leads us into unsafe places.

After Jesus wakes up and calms the storm, he turns to his disciples with what seems to be stinging words:

Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
-Mark 4:40 (NLT)

It appears that Jesus calls out his disciples for their lack of faith, but I would argue that he highlights to these men what has happened. He wants to make sure they know he is capable of quieting the wind and calming the waves. He is Lord of creation, so they can put their full weight in Jesus as they do in God.

Jesus took them into the storm to calm the wind and waves, so he could shape their faith.

I’ll take you back to the research of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Greg Lukianoff, and Jonathan Haidt, who suggest that we grow by putting ourselves in unsafe situations. It is these places that cause growth. It’s a pattern we can find throughout Scripture — Moses, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus himself were all put into difficult situations.

God’s purpose with them is the same as he has with you. God desires to shape you into the person who will fulfill the magnificent plans he designed for you before you were even born!2

And thankfully, when God leads you into scary situations, you are never alone.

2. God is with us in unsafe places.

In the Mark passage, Jesus called his disciples up to a greater faith—to know he has power over the storm. However, Jesus also wanted them to know that though he would lead them into chaotic places, he would always be with them.

As followers of Jesus, we are never alone as we ride through chaotic waters. A wonderful picture of not being alone in the difficult places is found in the very first lines of the creation narrative:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. -Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV)

The Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic waters at creation, and he continues to hover over and around the chaotic waters of your life, too. No, God will not always lead us beside quiet streams and green pastures, but he will always be with us as we walk through the dark valleys of life.3

Don’t Play it Safe.

So, the “safe” thing for me to do would have been to continue with life as is. It would have been much easier to see my last child graduate and fill that newfound time with nights out or nights in, filled with Netflix or the game of the day; however, God is moving me into unsafe places. Sure, I’m excited, but I’m nervous too.

I can be sure through this process that God will shape me, and He will be with me. He has known from the beginning of time that this was my path, so that I could fulfill the plans he had designed for me before I was born.

You, too, can be sure of this. God will lead you into unsafe places in order to shape you, but he will always be near you in those trying areas of life.

Where do you need to stop playing it safe?

Finally, thank you for your subscription! I am amazed you appreciate my writing enough to make space in your inbox. I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you take a moment to leave a comment?