April 14, 2025
Take The Leap
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
One of my favorite scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is when Indy is pursuing the Holy Grail and he comes to a chasm separating him from his injured friend. Time is running out, both to help his injured friend and to reach the Holy Grail, so Indy faces a difficult decision. Does he trust only what he sees in his current circumstances or does he take a leap of faith? Mind you, the chasm is far too wide to jump. With time of the essence and seemingly no real options, Indiana Jones decides to forgo everything that logic is telling him and take a giant step into the chasm. Gravity and the laws of physics would dictate that he is surely going to plummet to his demise. But just as he commits to the leap of faith, suddenly a bridge appears, allowing Indy to reach the other side.
It’s a movie and fictional character, but those of us who follow Christ can identify with the quandary this film portrays. In fact, we come to similar crossroads throughout our walk with Christ.
Hebrews 11:6 spells it out that without faith it’s impossible to please God. God calls us to a life of faith and He allows circumstances that force us to choose - will we trust Him or will we try to do things in our own strength and stick to the shallow waters where things are safe?
I remember in late Summer of 2023 when my wife, Kennetha, and I felt God calling us to move from North Carolina to Georgia to be with our three adult daughters who had settled in Georgia after each went to Free Chapel Bible College in Gainesville, GA. Our oldest daughter was pregnant at the time and had just embarked on going back to school full-time to get her counseling degree. We felt a deep sense that we were supposed to leave our comfort zone in NC and be near our family, but particularly help our oldest daughter.
Kennetha was a Children’s Minister at the time and absolutely loved those kids. I had a comfortable job and was teaching youth and college students in Sunday School and doing some preaching periodically. It was a good and comfortable life. But we felt God calling us out. We began looking for houses and a job for me in Georgia that would allow Kennetha time to help with the baby. The baby was due in mid-October, but to everyone’s surprise, he was born 7 weeks premature. We wouldn’t even understand the reasons for at least another year or so (another story for another time) but our daughter developed serious complications in the pregnancy and her life was in danger. So our first grandchild, Leo, arrived in late August. The timeline to move kicked into warp speed at that point. Kennetha became convinced that she was supposed to resign from her children’s ministry position, but I was like, “Hold on, should we be giving up our jobs before we have a house or a job in Georgia? It seemed counterintuitive to me and, frankly, it scared me. I like being in control. I like security. And this option provided neither.
But Kennetha was convinced that the Lord was telling her to take the leap of faith. Reluctantly, I got on board. Can I tell you that within a week of tendering her resignation that both the ideal house and job fell into place! On the job front, I had bumped into a guy I had worked with years earlier and he was starting up a business where he had landed contracts in North Carolina and South Carolina shipping medical prescriptions to post offices for a drug company. He offered me a job to help run things in NC but I told him we were moving to Georgia. I remember saying, “If you ever have anything in Georgia, let me know.” A few days later, I noticed a call from his number. I answered and he said, “You’ll never guess what happened. I just got offered the Georgia account. Do you want to run it? It starts in November but you can work here until you need to move.”
God was opening doors exactly when we needed them. But it all started with my wife’s leap of faith that I reluctantly got on board with.
You will find that often to be the case - that you have to take that initial leap of faith before God opens the doors. It’s not as if God is incapable without your gesture of faith. He can do what He wants when He wants. He just wants to know that you are willing to let go of control and trust Him.
And while it’s impossible to please God without exercising faith, the opposite is true. When we take a leap of faith, it delights the Lord. Even if it’s 51% faith and 49% doubt, He will take it. He knows you’re scared. He knows it’s not easy.
But as this passage confirms that He wants to reward those who believe that He exists and who earnestly seek Him. He has exceedingly more in store for you than you can ever imagine if you’ll just trust Him.
As you read this, how is God speaking to you today? What leap of faith is God calling you to today? Will you take it?