I don’t like heights and I don’t like leaping from them. The higher I go, the bigger the jump, the more faith is required.
Paradoxically, the older I get, the more leaps of faith God seems to ask of me. I don’t know that it’ll ever get easy, but past experience does help.
Take my graduation from business school in 1987, for example. Karen and I faced two divergent paths. On the one hand was a conventional career in business. The other route required a leap of faith and made no sense to my peers: Help start a ministry with a friend.
Our decision was complicated by the financial needs of a family with three small children.
Wanting to trust God, but unsure as to what his will was, my wife sought the counsel of friends and we prayed. To start the ministry, we’d have to raise financial support. We needed to decide quickly, so we set a goal and gave it a month.
With just one day left in the month, we were significantly short of the goal. Frankly, we were a little relieved. The path of ministry had a lot of sacrifice involved.
Then, before the day was over, seemingly out of left field, a number of people made large donations. At the last second, God provided far more than we needed. He had done his part, so we made the leap of faith.
The result over the last 24 years has blown our minds. We have close to a thousand staff and interns in the ministry. We’ve taken nearly 100,000 people on mission trips and have seen their lives change. We help care for 5,000 orphans in Africa and meet the needs of the poor in over 50 countries around the world. My two oldest of our five children work with me and are living their dream.
Actually, almost nothing worthwhile in my life has happened without a leap of faith. And the most incredible blessings (like marrying Karen) have required the biggest leaps.
Are you facing a leap of faith today? I love that God says “without faith, it’s impossible to please me.” He loves to see us jump and waits to show us that when we leaped into what we thought was the unknown, it was really right into his arms.
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I couldn’t agree more lets get our feet back out on a mountain!!
I’d say that Faith is showing your gratitude to God the Father by being ourselves a river of living water , constantly pouring out so we can be refilled with His Spirit.
Faith got me out of bed last Saturday morning expecting a day-old
Bagel from our weekly donation, the Fathers love and provision added over 100 diapers for our son.
So glad that we know you and Karen! Through AIM you have introduced both of us to mission trips and we are blessed because of it, God has done and will continue to do great things!
Seth, I read this the other day and again today and the timing is sweet. Gracias.
“How lovely on the mountain are the feet of him who brings good news…”
That’s you and Karen and your family and your ministry.
God bless you, Seth and all.
Judith