Do you remember the scene? It still sticks vividly in my mind as a great depiction of faith.
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Indiana Jones’ father is dying of a gunshot wound inside a cavern near where the coveted Holy Grail is hidden. He was shot by the evil Nazi who wanted to force Indie to make the final leg of the hazardous journey to find the grail. Only the Grail could provide the living water to save his father, but it would also provide the well-armed Nazi with the prize he had been pursuing for years. Indiana did not want to provide the Nazi with the Grail, but his overriding desire was to save his father. The only hope was to get the Grail.
Indiana moves on in search of the Grail only to find himself at the end of a long rock tunnel on the edge of a very deep and very wide chasm. The instructions in his journal indicate that his journey must continue with a leap from the Lion’s head, under which he is now standing. It’s impossible – nobody can leap the distance to the other side. The screams of his father’s slow death prod him on to consider the impossible. He resigns himself to believe that somehow this is a necessary leap of faith. All-the-while, his dying father is muttering to himself, “You must believe.”
Indie resigns himself to disregard his common sense and choose an uncommon sense – faith. He chose to disregard what his eyes could see, and see instead with the eyes of his heart. He chose to see with eyes that did not look at what is, but what could be. He knew that without some degree of extraordinary courage, he could not step beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary – from what is seen to the unseen. From what is, to what could be. From the visible, into the invisible. From the natural, into the supernatural.
Do you remember what happens next?
He steps out into thin air. He steps off of his secure footing in the solid rock tunnel into the nothingness of the chasm. He would either fall to his death, or experience something supernatural. And low and behold, miraculously, a solid rock bridge supernaturally appears for him to walk over to the other side where the treasure of the Holy Grail is found.
Wow, what a great picture of how we are called to walk with Jesus.
Jesus invites us to step out into the unseen with Him. No road map. No guarantees that everything is going to be easy and fun. No guarantees for health and wealth. However, He does promise that He will be with us. He does promise that He will provide for all our needs. He does promise that nothing can separate us from His love.
We are told that it is impossible to please God without faith. To live by faith demands courage, because many times – like Indiana Jones – we have to step out into something for which we know not how it ends. What we do know is that He is with us; He loves us; and that He will provide for all our needs. Our faith is in who He is, not in what we think he is going to do. Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
On many occasions I have found myself at what feels like the end of comfortable solid ground being prodded by the Lord to step out into “nothingness”. Every time I have stepped out He has met me – not always in the way that I wanted, expected or demanded, but always the way I needed. And now He is doing it again in my life. I will tell you more about that later…
How is the Lord inviting you to step out? What is the chasm you are looking at wondering how an earth you are going to get over? Begin to look through the eyes of faith in who Jesus has promised to be to you in the midst of uncertainty. Without faith it is impossible to walk with Him where He is leading you. Choose to trust in who has promised to be to you, not in what you expect Him to do for you.
Lord, help us to have faith like Indiana Jones.
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 13:5
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?””
Philippians 4:19
“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”