Leap of Faith
By Anthony Casperson
6-1-19

You’ve climbed up the tallest building around. Jutting out from the roof are a few boards, forming a type of plank. An eagle perches on the plank. As you step up onto the wooden platform, the bird flies off. You look around, taking in the beauty of the surrounding city. And then you look down. There’s a pile of hay on the street level, perfectly positioned to land in.

And you take the leap of faith.

Oh, yeah, you’re also playing an Assassin’s Creed video game. The designers have included instructions of what to look for and how to perform this designed action. Or, you’ve played enough of the games to know to look for this type of set up. A rooftop with a white streak near a small flock of birds also indicates the time and place for a leap of faith. Always into some form of haystack.

In casual conversation, when we speak of a leap of faith, it’s usually akin to a frightful situation where we’re not 100% sure our intended outcome will happen. We really want it to. It’s our expectation. But there’s still a margin of error. A mistake could happen. A misjudgement.

But what I described from the video game franchise is hardly an unknown outcome. You stand in the place where the designers have indicated the desired effect will happen. They designed levels and situations around performing this action. And when you interact with the world around you in the proper method, as outlined by the designers, you leap and land perfectly healthy, exactly as intended and designed.

Rather than say that this isn’t what a leap of faith is, maybe we should consider that this is exactly what it is. We followers of Jesus believe in a God who has created all things, knows all things, directs all things. He is the designer of our lives. He knows what he intends for us to do. He’s set us in specific situations for his purpose.

And he calls us to have faith in him, to trust him and his design. When we act in line with what God has called us to, when we’re living in line with his commands of loving God and loving others, when we’re going and making disciples of all nations, when we’re listening to the work of God in our lives, then there should be no worry when he asks us to jump. Faith is an intentional part of our life. God designed it that way.

Think about it, for those of us who have played any Assassin’s Creed game, if we explored, climbed, parkoured our way around the cityscape of the game, but never made a single leap of faith, would we not be missing out on a lot of the intended design? For certain games, the story, designed for us to enjoy, would never even start because taking that leap of faith is key in progressing the story. Often faith is needed to continue what is offered to us by the Creator.

A leap of faith is not something to be feared. It’s a moment designed for us to enjoy. And faith often leads to experience more of what we were made to be. Faith isn’t blind, it’s a sure thing once we understand the Creator’s intention. And in that, we can leap for joy.

Will we take the leap?