Taking the Leap of Faith

Posted by: Leah Gartner, Director of Marketing and Events | Monday, March 2nd, 2026 ( 8:53am)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.—Proverbs 3:5

I remember several times as a child going to summer church camp. The camp was named after a lake on the property, so most of the activities centered around it. But, to participate in all of the fun water activities, you had to pass a swim test. It was pretty straight forward—tread water for a certain amount of time, swim a lap—no big deal. But if you wanted to do the more exciting activities like the water slide or the diving boards, the test required you to jump off the high dive (with the additional bonus of earning a really cool bracelet that let everyone at camp know that you were not a wuss. I like to think of it as positive peer pressure!).

I had never taken the big jump before, and it scared the living daylights out of me. However, I found myself climbing those fateful steps all the way to the top. Now I knew that in reality the high dive wasn’t dangerous. The camp had made sure that there were no rocks or logs under the water, it was plenty deep, and they had a lifeguard at the top to make sure I waited to jump at the right time. So, when I put my foot on the first ladder rung I felt in charge. “It’s not that high, I’m jumping in feet first, it will be no big deal!” But, the further up I went, the more scared and anxious I became. Fear began to creep in; "Why am I doing this? This is so much higher than I thought it was! I might really hurt myself. How long am I going to be falling for?”

As I stepped off the ladder and onto the platform, my heart was pounding out of my chest. Everything inside me wanted to turn around and go back down. I thought for sure I would probably be the first casualty of the high dive and my tragic demise would become fireside fodder for years to come. But then I heard the encouraging voice of the life guard, “ You can do this! You are brave! Just think about all of the fun stuff you are going to be able to do this week because you took the leap!” It was just what I needed to hear. I trusted the lifeguard. After all, he had seen plenty of other nervous kids jump off and survive. His voice gave me the courage to take a deep breath, plug my nose, and take the leap.

Honestly, it was scary, but it was also exhilarating and I didn’t just survive, it opened up the a door to all the other fun activities that I was able to do! Plus, I showed my friends coming up the ladder behind me that they could do it too.

There are times in my adult life when I still feel the “high dive” moment. The anxiety that comes up when I know God is prompting me to do something, but it makes me feel uncomfortable, nervous, or stressed. My thoughts run wild with all of the reasons that I should get off the platform and get somewhere that is safe and comfortable. But then I remind myself to listen for God’s voice, because I know I can fully trust Him and His Word.

Like when God was telling me to move on to a different job. Scary and unknown at the time, but after taking a leap of faith I had so much peace realizing the new job was just what I needed. Or the hard conversation that needed to be had. I could think of a million reasons not to have it, but then that still small voice of the Holy Spirit broke through, whispering, “I know this seems scary, and you are worried about what the other person will say, but you know in the long run if you trust me and have faith things will be so much better.” And you know what? Things were better, just as He said.

The Good News of God’s Word is that He is true, He is trustworthy, and he makes things that seem impossible to me, possible. The same is true for you, too. When we allow ourselves to be led by God’s prompting and strength, we can do hard things because we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So if you are struggling with your own "high dive" situation, take a deep breath, plug your nose, and take the leap. You never know what exciting things God may have in store for you!