Take a Leap With Me!

This past Friday night, my husband and I were enjoying dinner at a new restaurant in our area. During our conversation, I asked him for help on my "Start Up" topic for this week. I had been mulling over writing on Leap Year, but was struggling with where to go with it. Well, need I say more to my engineer-scientist husband….. "We have leap year because the earth is slowing down. If we didn't have a leap year, sooner or later Christmas would be in the middle of summer, because every 4 years we have to add an extra day…. And Galileo, as he studied the planets….." It was at Galileo, I started yawning.

 

I kindly asked if he had any other helpful ideas. Ben then suggested that everyone reading this should take a leap. What do you mean by that, I cautiously asked? A jump? "Not all at once, at least, because that might knock us out of orbit and then we wouldn't need Leap Year at all."  OK. Whatever. When he goes scientific on me, I just nod in agreement.

 

I really did like his idea that we should take a leap. A leap of faith. Let's consider this for a moment. Many of us say we believe in God yet fail to really LIVE like we believe in Him. If we believed in God, why do we struggle so much with fear and anxiety? If we believed in God, why would we allow so many other things/people to become way more important than God? If we believed in God, why wouldn't we allow Him to reign fully in our lives? If we believed in God, why wouldn't we be more loving and kind to others? If we believed in God, why wouldn't we want to take a leap of faith?

 

I think we like to make God who we want Him to be. We like a safe god. A god that's there for us when we want Him to be. A god that blesses us with all we want. A god that keeps bad things from happening to good people. A god that keeps life going the way it should go. Schedules go routinely. Work gets done. Relationships that are peaceful. Painful stuff packed neatly away. Children on right path. No one gets cancer…. Yeah, that kind of life, the not-for-real life. God calls us to a life of faith amidst the good and bad things that come our way. All through the Bible we are called to believe and trust God and reminded that He was, is and will always be faithful. Who else can we count on like that?

 

What if God gave you this extra day to take a leap of faith? Honestly, how long has it been since your faith was really, really stretched? You can spend plenty of time stretching your muscles because you value exercise. But, what about your faith? When have you had to stand up for your faith? When will you take that courageous step and deal with your past stuff? When will you decide, once and for all, to end your addiction? When will you give up your anger and bitterness? When will you decide that un-forgiveness is no longer an option? Might God be calling you to leave something behind and step out of your comfort zone? When will you decide that it's finally time to change? 

 

Don't keep using the same ole' excuses to keep you from growing. Now is the time. Take a leap of faith. Take a leap into God's beautiful outstretched arms. He is there for you and waiting to catch you. He will never let you go. Go ahead and take a leap with me! I'm going, will you go to?

 

 "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver, "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? "Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." –C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

 

 "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 sincerely seek him." Hebrews 11:6

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.