A Leap of Faith

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
Hebrews 11:8

I have been thinking about faith a lot lately. This is partly because of where I am in my own life, and partly because I am being challenged by God to not only understand faith, but to act on it. Abraham is the great hero of faith. For generations, he has been cited as a man who lived at thee pinnacle of faith. This scripture refers to a time in his life when God spoke to him to pull up the tent pegs, load his possessions and move. Abraham obeyed, even though God did not tell him where he was going.
    When I read this scripture, my mind immediately thought of a scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Indy found himself in a place where he must cross great obstacles to get to the Holy Grail. Only then would he have the ability to save his father who had been seriously wounded. He had some clues that his father had uncovered about how to pass through the obstacles. First, he must pass through an obstacle where many had already died trying to pass. Remembering one of the clues, he said, "The penitent man is humble before God." With that, he bowed and the great knife-like blades passed over his head. He was through! After passing through another obstacle, he found himself standing on the edge of a bottomless crevice. Suddenly a revelation came to him. He must take a leap of faith. So he stepped off the edge of the cliff. Of course, miraculously he stepped on a natural bridge that could not be seen before. So he conquered all the obstacles. He would get to the Holy Grail.
    I am finding that my life must be like Indiana Jones. First, I must be humble before God. This means that I must be willing to receive what he speaks to me regardless of how it looks. I must remember that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. He always knows the correct path for me. Then, I must be willing to take a leap of faith, even if I don't know where it is leading. I only need to know one thing; that God has spoken to me. If I know that, I can obey and launch out in faith. This is difficult because it is more comfortable to stay where I am rather than move on. Like Abraham, I must believe God enough to trust him. I must be willing to move out in faith when he tells me to go.
    "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1). Once we are able to walk in this kind of truth, we will shed all fear and follow God completely. We may not see it or feel it, but we will know God's voice and we will be sure of our hope in him. I say, let's take a leap of faith and follow God wherever he leads us. Then we will be fulfilled.