As I stood on the cliff’s edge I heard dangerous waves crashing on the rocks below.
Cliff diving was insane.
It wasn’t an extreme sport; it was a hospital bill. It was also my turn.
After I stopped wondering how many creatures waited beneath the surface to eat me, I dove into the salty depths of the Adriatic Sea.
I was eighteen, clueless, terrified and halfway around the world. It was my first mission trip and cliff diving was a symbolic end to the whole experience.
Rather than spend the summer after my graduation sitting on a beach in the Caribbean I chose to follow a call to serve orphans in a country recovering from civil war.
My sheltered, middle class, suburban life hadn’t prepared me for the call.
After all, the closest I had come to an orphan was a Broadway production of Annie.
I had no training, no evangelism skills and war torn devastation was as foreign to me as the language.
It turned out that God didn’t care about any of that. That summer I learned firsthand what God can do with people who leap into obedience.
I rocked abandoned babies, hugged dirty toddlers, taught VBS and went to church camp with teenagers. Some of them heard the good news for the first time, some were comforted by the hands and feet of Christ and some trusted their lives to Him. By the end of the trip all of them had felt the love of God.
It was one of the scariest jumps I ever made, but it was THE jump that changed the whole trajectory of my life. I was forever changed because of it and the impact still affects me today.
Sometimes faith still invites me to alien edges and beckons me to jump.
It may not be off a cliff into a sea, but it might be parenting my toddler with faith rather than popular opinion, forgiving someone I don’t want to forgive or trusting God with my family’s limited financial resources.
Even though these jumps have been into the unknown, unplanned and unfamiliar I have always been caught by the sturdy hands of the all knowing, all encompassing Almighty.
Sometimes faith comes by jumping…but Christ will never let you fall.
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Kristen - Moms Sharpening Moms says
Ginny,
As a military wife, this message blessed me in more ways than one. Thank you so much for it!
@ngie says
Ginny, this is a wonderful message of active hope. I love the correlation of the jump – beautiful.
Marilyn says
When God points out a clear next step, just take it – ALWAYS good advice!
Loved your account here and would definitely love to hear more about the ways that act of obedience touched your future.
Melissa says
Moving account of trust!
Bindu says
Ginny,
Such a great post. Thank you for the reminder that God always has us in His hands..
Katie-Pensacola, FL says
God has used this analogy with me so many times. I love this picture of trusting our Eternal Daddy. He is so faithful, worthy of our trust.
Thank you for such a wonderful post.
Abbie says
I, too, have had “cliff jumping” moments! Only ONE was actually jumping off a cliff into the water as a college freshman! Others included choosing a short-term missions trip after college and deciding to say yes if my (now) husband proposed!
Elizabeth@LongtoLove says
“Sometimes faith comes through jumping…but Christ will never let you fall.”
LOVE that! Thanks for the encouragement today!
Marcee says
I have been avoiding a cliff jump for years and still fight it every day. I feel like a cartoon character with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Just thinking about making the jump terrifies me and makes my stomach turn. It’s actually quite stressful. I logically know that God has my best interest at heart, but emotionally, I guess I’m still unsure. What blessings am I missing by not obeying him? MANY! And yet, I still struggle to obey.
Pamela says
One of my favorite quotes:
“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.” Margaret Shepherd
Mary @ Passionate Perseverance says
Or it might be letting you college age son go to school five hours away truly letting go. I am so glad that Jesus is there to catch me as I fall.
Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder Ginny.
Blessings and Grace…
Holley Gerth says
Ginny, I love that you are courageous, and funny, and real. So glad you jumped into the waters of (in)courage too. This has been one of the biggest leaps God has ever asked me to take. And it has been amazing. So glad to share it with you!
Debbie says
Just the thought of jumping off a cliff like that scares me to no end. I’ve been working on overcoming my fear of heights. But I know that faith involves stepping out into the unknown and trusting God to catch me.
Thanks for sharing your story of taking that leap.