4 Steps to Courageously Take a Leap of Faith

I can still remember the first time God asked me to take a leap of faith. As a young adult, I fumbled through this first-time application of my faith. Nervousness and fear filled my mind, but I still felt the draw to step towards this unexpected choice. My heart overflowed with a desire to follow God while my brain debated the logical plan for my life. This tension and conviction was something I had never experienced before.

I didn’t have the confidence to know if this truly was something God wanted for me, and I wrestled with the thought that I was ill-equipped to navigate the path. In the end, I made the plunge, and what followed was an incredible season of spiritual growth while confidently walking in God’s purpose for my life.

Since then, God has walked me through more leaps of faith. These seasons have stretched my ability to trust Him with my life and His plan over my own. As Christ followers, when we start allowing Him to work through our lives, we will inevitably be called to step out of our comfort zone. It will require courageous faith and trust in the God we serve, knowing He will not lead us anywhere that His grace, guidance, and provision cannot reach. Paul described it by saying, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV).

So when you feel Him tugging on your heart, calling you out of your comfort zone, how can you gain the courage to take that leap?

1. Trade fear for faith.

Every leap of faith I’ve walked through has involved the hurdle of fear. Whether it was how others would react or the unknown outcome, the details of how it would all play out caused stress. Satan loves to use our fear against us when we are pursuing God’s will for our lives. In the midst of fear, the Holy Spirit has taught my heart to seek clear discernment instead of following my emotions.

Taking that fear in prayer to Jesus allows Him to trade our fear for faith in His strength alone (Isaiah 4:13). Don’t try to hide the fear or ignore it. Instead, bring your fear to the only one who can swap it for a “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 ESV). That peace helps build up our faith so we can take that first step.

2. Find confidence in Christ

Hebrews 13:6 (ESV) tells us, “we can confidently say, ‘the Lord is my helper, I will not fear.’” In Christ, we can find freedom from fear and confidence, not in who we are but whose we are. Our identity in Him is what can provide the confidence to jump into the unknown and continue to pursue that path with perseverance. With Him by our side, we can find everything we need to restore our soul and continuously take step after step, even while facing obstacles. By placing our confidence in our Savior, we can also avoid the temptation to “lean on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 ESV) or become prideful, forgetting to give God the glory.

3. Seek His wisdom and guidance

As we lean into our heavenly Father as the provider and sustainer of our faith, the Holy Spirit has the space to provide us with the wisdom and guidance we need to walk the path God has for us. Intentionally seeking Biblical wisdom for our decisions in the midst of a leap of faith becomes the direction for the details. The clarity for each step comes through prayer and connection with the ultimate source who “gives generously” when we ask (James 1:5). Without asking for it, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the wisdom the world provides or the whispers of Satan’s lies. God’s Truth found in scripture and discernment provided by the Holy Spirit must become the filter in which decisions are made.

4. Trust God’s faithful provision

As we pray and wait for guidance, we must trust God to provide. Reminders of His faithfulness in the past can give us the encouragement we need. Time spent in scripture and reflecting on His faithful provision through your personal faith walk can fortify your faith.

In 2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV), Paul tells us, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” To walk out our faith, pursuing God’s purpose for our lives will require us to faithfully trust that He will provide along the way. Sometimes it will come as expected, but other times we will struggle with it not arriving in the timing we want or maybe not in the way we want it to. But even when we have to wait on the Lord’s provision, we can wait with courage, knowing He has been and forever will be faithful (Psalm 27:14 ESV).