I believe in taking risks. When a risk has been prayed over and is God-directed, it is a form of faith. Here's an example:

This past week I was on my regular jog, which, when I'm not having random thoughts, is a venue for God and I to have a conversation.

Although I write about hearing God's voice and lead a ministry that helps people to learn to listen to him, the hard reality is that I
often wonder about whether my thoughts are my own or something God is saying to me. There are no formulas - struggling to encounter the divine is part of being human.

So, a thought popped into my mind as I was jogging: "Launch a contest and give away a trip around the world to get people involved in the World Race."

Was that my own hyper-active imagination or God whispering a great idea?

I shared the idea with my team at AIM and we brainstormed a bit. Yesterday we sent out an email to our mailing list linking to this web page and this morning, dozens of people are replying.

I've been wrong so often in my life, I don't take this as proof that God was speaking to me. But I've learned to try and give him the benefit of the doubt. I know he wants to speak to me - we're told that over and over again in scripture (check out what Jesus says in John 10). If I don't err on the side of faith, ultimately, I'll fail to please God (Read Hebrews 11:6 - "without faith it is impossible to please God").

Maybe God is speaking to you and you've been skeptical, discounting the thought as your own. Jesus was always pointing out the presence of faith or the lack of faith in his disciples. It's far better to err on the side of faith - I think that's what the Bible means when it says we should be working out our
faith with fear and trembling.