Imagine you’re in a cave with a flashlight. Your buddy is ahead of you. Suddenly you come to a chasm in the floor that you must jump over. You can see the other side ,and realize that while it’s far away, its close enough to jump, though you’ll have to make a good jump. Your buddy goes first, and just as he leaps off, your flashlight dies and the darkness envelopes you. The seconds it takes for your buddy to land seems like an eternity, and you hear noise from across the chasm, but you’re not sure if he made it or not. But you know you’ll have to make the jump too. 

What would you be thinking? You’d probably be pretty apprehensive. Maybe even scared. That’s ok. Most likely all the possibilities of jumping and falling would come to mind, because you couldn’t see if your buddy made it. You can’t see the other side. You can’t see the bottom. You won’t see yourself jump. You’re scared of what you can’t see. 

Yesterday we talked about trusting God with the unseen. Most of us would agree that to do so is needed and good. The problem is it’s hard. And the problem is we’re not entirely sure that God can indeed handle everything that we can’t see, because we can’t. 

Let’s go back to the cave. There are several seconds of silence, than you hear your friend say, “I made it, I’m ok, and I’ll tell you exactly how to jump. You will be OK.” 

Would you believe your friend? Would you believe them if they told you exactly how many steps to take, and how hard to push off, and said they’d catch you? After all, they’ve been there already, they should know, right? 

I want to encourage you that God’s already where you’re not. God’s already figured out how to handle what you can’t see, and to trust Him with that sometimes takes a leap of faith. God doesn’t always tell us exactly how it’ll go, but He does promise He’ll take care of you. Sometimes that’s not how we expect or wanted, but if God is taking care of us, that’s good. 

I love what Peter writes in his epistle, to Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1st Peter 5:6-7, ESV). It takes humility to admit you can’t see, and to submit to someone elses’ guidance. It takes courage to cast your fears & anxieties on God, because you’re admitting you’re not in control. But God cares for you, and will take care of you. This passage is right before Peter warns us about the devil prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour, speaking of things not seen. 

The centurion had Jesus’ word that his servant was healed, and had faith in Jesus’ unseen ability to do so. He may yet have had fears, or anxieties about the situation, but it didn’t stop him from taking a leap of faith, and believing Jesus’ word. 

Jesus is on the other side of the chasm. He says trust Me, believe Me, & you’ll be ok. We can be thankful for His word, if only we believe it. Take the leap of faith into what is unseen to us, but God has already seen, dealt with, handled, and wants to guide you through. Grace to you.