It was just me and the cold, murky water staring back at me, while standing on an uneven, jagged surface of the boulder. No bungee cords, no harnesses wrapped around me, no form of man-made equipment made for these kinds of situations. I just remember thinking to myself, “This is a literal leap of faith. I am actually going to do this. OH MY GOSH, I AM ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS…..”, while undeniably, mentally singing “Dive” by Steven Curtis Chapman.
I remember as if it were yesterday. I went with my group of friends, the college ministry at Quail Springs Baptist, and we were attending Glorieta, the collegiate week held during the first week of August every year in New Mexico. Our college pastor at the time, Scott, took those who dared to leap off the rock formations into a calm place of a river that flowed throughout the area. We were in a secluded wooded haven, and enveloped by ranges of mountains.
I always try to remind myself whenever I am placed in circumstances coupled with uncertainty, of a time that I had leapt off a cliff, with in mind, “Jesus has got me; if it’s my time, I am about to meet to Jesus.” It was a defining moment for me, not knowing where I would land when jumping off the rock. Because the waters, that year and last year, were deep and shallow in certain places. If you landed in any shallow patches, it would probably result in a new trip: to the ER. I would never imagine myself doing this, not in a million years, but I decided to go for it, with the support of my ridiculously crazy friends; I wanted to physically show that I trusted God, and take a literal leap of faith.
When we are placed in uncertain circumstances, but choose to remain secure in the fact that God is working in our lives and there is nothing to fear, the end result is something that cannot be defined by words. That’s because the living Spirit of God is present and proves His presence in the time when He calls us to face the uncertainty and fear that follows. No matter the result of the current circumstances, He is seeing His story unfolding before Him, and we are the characters coming to the realization that He sees all and does all through our lives.
As I stared at the water that did not reveal its entirety and deepness to me as much I revealed my fear for it, I strategized as to where I would leap; which part of the water seemed most promising. I just remember the leap, the feeling of vulnerability as my surroundings began to blend with one another, sounds around became muted and landing in a dark, cold abyss. I was never more relieved to feel the gravel sink into the soles of my feet, and acted as the jump board for me to make it back to the surface.
When I made it back to a familiar atmosphere, I heard a thunderous applause. I was thinking, “Yeah, I did it! By God’s grace and mercy. Jesus leapt with me.”
When we all went to the place that held these specific memories once again last summer, and as I was preparing to jump once again, it was revealed to me that there was more than one reason I was greeted with that applause the year before. When I made the momentous leap, the physical leap of faith, my friends, Devin and Josh, tell me that I had barely missed, by inches, the cascading rock formation when I jumped. I knew from that moment, God was with me and protected me from what would have been an almost fatal accident.
I was so unsure of myself and whether or not I should be doing this, as I stared back at the water from the same cliff once again. But, deep within me, I believed I needed to do it again. I believed I needed to place my trust in the same God who has protected me in the past. I needed to show God that I trust Him with all that I have. I leapt once again, and I relived the same experience as I did last time; the only difference was that I did not have a brush with death again, thankfully.
When we are given the opportunities to trust God, we need to grasp tightly onto those opportunities. When we allow those opportunities to come into complete fruition, we get to experience the power and feel the complete, secure control He has over our lives; if it had not been for His provision, I would not be writing to you, right now. But that’s a whole other story in itself.