Leap of Faith

What group of people do you think has the most faith? Nuns, monks and clergy? Innocent children? Maybe Green Bay Packers fans?

Nope.

I'd have to say skydivers. Jumping from thousands of feet in the air to plummet at extreme velocity, pulling a rip chord and praying, yes praying, it opens long before your feet touch the earth. What an act of faith. What a literal leap of faith.

Tonight we concluded our church book study on If You Want To Walk On Water You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat by John Ortberg. With the approach of summer's end, we wrapped up the last three chapters in one session, taking time to reflect on the book as a whole, too.

Appropriately, the "Focusing on Jesus" chapter reminds us "Don't look down." Remember when Peter was walking on water and got distracted by the storm and lost focus on Jesus? That's when he faltered. Much like a tightrope walker, we need to lead our lives in faith, one foot in front of the other, focusing on Jesus – and definitely not looking down!

Jumping out of plane? Uff da. Not sure where to look. Just trust God and the parachute!

And pray you don't have to wait too long for it to open... even though the next chapter had some advice on "Learning to Wait."

In our society of immediacy, we're not the most patient lot, are we? Pretty sure I'm not just speaking for myself here. Raise your hand if you've honked at the car ahead of you when they didn't move the nano-second the light turned green. Or you've told your microwave to hurry up because it wasn't heating up your food fast enough. Or you've become an Amazon Prime member for that 2-day shipping since 5 days might as well be a Pony Express delivery.

Did you know that learning to wait well is a sign of maturity?

Ha. We'll skip that part. What hit home for me was that hope is really a form of waiting. Waiting means we give God the benefit of the doubt. We have faith that whatever it is we are waiting for – usually unanswered prayers – will be worth it. Often times positive. Or a least a life lesson to learn.

God is not about to call us out of the boat and set us up for failure. But when we lose focus and lose patience, we are saying we don't completely trust Him and His plans. We don't have faith and we don't have hope.

Is it because our God isn't big enough? Or because we forget that He is?

The final chapter asks: "How Big is Your God?" Every time someone gets out of the boat (or jumps out of the proverbial plane), their God gets a little bigger.

He's not just the safety net under us. He's the giant behind us, protecting us while gently nudging us in the right direction. He's the life jacket securely hugging us as we navigate the rough waters. He's the strong arms catching us when the wind picks up and we stumble. He's the hands reaching out to take our troubles from us... and we just have to release our grip and let Him. He's bigger than all the drops of water in the stormy sea combined.

Wow. I'd get out of my boat to meet Him at least halfway. Wouldn't you?

You've taken the walk with me this far. Might as well go out with a leap of faith!