An Army chaplain once told me about his first parachute jump. As the aircraft approached the dropping zone he clipped his parachute release to the static line, checked the equipment of the man in front and waited for the green light to come on. He looked around and saw that everyone, like him, was tense and afraid. But then their instructor simply said: “forget what you feel, trust what you’ve been taught.”
Then the green light came on and he stepped out into nothingness. At first there was just the sound of rushing wind, then he felt a tug on his shoulders as his parachute opened and he began to float to the ground. He said: ‘My terror suddenly turned to exhilaration.’
And, that’s what faith is, stepping out beyond our security to where we sense God is calling us to be and, as we take that step, finding that all is well.