The Leap Was The Key

 

After leaving our cozy ‘God given’ abode at a downtown Chicago Airbnb, we landed at a suburban kitchenette hotel. We were sobbing with gratitude for the rescue that God gave. He really showed up at the perfect time, and He saved us from the dangers that we were facing. 

 

It isn’t until you find yourself falling or facing extreme danger, that you can truly embrace and celebrate in the life-saving promises from God. He was our ever-present support and a Lifesaver in times of facing the threatening situations. 

 

After a couple of weeks at our cute little suburban hotel room, the rooms were booked out from the summer chaos, and God led us to a different Chicagoland suburb that I had never been to before. 

 

We found ourselves in another kitchenette hotel room, and it was so incredibly comfortable for us both. We stayed for a week, and towards the end of the week, we found ourselves in the midst of a fiery ordeal. 

 

The hotel was completely booked out and there was nowhere to go because of the summer festivals and conventions. Meanwhile, God had been promising to take us back to the same downtown Chicago Airbnb that we were at before, filled with all the comforts of home. 

 

It didn’t take long for me to realize that the money that I had in my account was not enough to cover moving back to the city apartment…not even close. I was praying to God for direction, because He had been telling me that this miracle would come from a very strategic action. 

 

It was a door that would open with a key, and the key was risking everything. 

 

As I rested in bed after praying for God’s counsel on what to do, He showed me a vision of what to do. We were on a boat that was on fire, and there were sparks and ashes and smoke in the air. 

 

Then, in the vision, we had to jump onto a raft (a big leap of faith) that would be a temporary rescue for us, and it would take us to the place where we were going. Next came the key of what I would need to do by faith, to see the promise of the next room released. It was a strategy that only made sense to God, not even I could wrap my mind around it. 

 

Every promise holds a requirement of faith, and sometimes the only way through a narrow place is laying down EVERYTHING, in order to fit through the small opening. So God will sometimes ask us to empty our pockets, to fit through, and so that we can receive the treasure trove of riches on the other side. 

 

The Lord had showed me that I would need to put 100% of my trust in His wisdom to see this miracle done. Then He told me that I would need to remain “perfectly still” (as in no worries, fears, or doubts) as He carried us to the PROMISED LAND…which at this moment was the month rental at an Airbnb apartment downtown. 

 

This leap of faith was not easy, because God asked me to lay down all I had on the altar to Him. I had $1500 in my account, that I was clinging to it for dear life for some kind of refuge. 

 

However, God showed me that I needed to give that FULL amount to Him, by helping someone else, and that I needed to rely on His wisdom to bring out blessings for my sacrifice of trust. He even showed me who He had planned for me to “plant the seed” to. 

 

Just like taking a sudden, spontaneous leap to escape the flames, I gave this person ALL I had, as an act of faith and trust to the Lord. I had to lay my life on His altar and the life of my child. It was not easy, and the hardest part was I had to stay still after I took the leap. 

 

Even though my flesh wanted to scream, shout, cry for help… I had to stay rested in faith and trust in God’s promise to rescue us. One of the things that God said to me a long time ago was, “there is an instant reward for self-sacrifice to Him”. By self-sacrifice, He meant laying down all that we have and that we fear and risking everything to trust Him and His promise. 

 

That is just what happened! The very same day that I released ALL that I had to God in obedience and trust in His love, He gave me back enough to go to a quick hotel (it was like our rescue raft from the flames) and to pay for our promised month stay at the downtown Chicago apartment. 

 

It was like having a fruity popsicle on the hottest day! The relief of that promise being fulfilled was the best possible feeling! We went to a hotel that we had planned to stay for a couple of days at a familiar place, and there was an unexpected change. 

 

The hotel room we reserved was no longer available, due to an unexpected circumstance. So the Lord took us to another suburb that we had never been to, and to a hotel chain that is not our normal ‘go to’. 

 

We were surprisingly upgraded to a TWO-bedroom suite with a fireplace! God gave us an instant upgrade, and we were treated like royalty. That hotel room was like a raft that would carry us to the promised place, because the vacation rental apartment was not something that could be moved into the same day…it took a little time. 

 

God proved to be our comfort and our safety, and He protected us from all the dangers of being homeless or having nothing. His promise to us was fulfilled again…but this time it had a much more expensive requirement…the sacrifice of self and all the money that I was clinging to. 

 

With ear to ear smiles, we moved back downtown to the same apartment building as before. We are overlooking Lake Michigan and the glittering city buildings. Our room is fully equipped with all the comforts of home, and the biggest surprise was this one had a jacuzzi-sized bath tub! 

 

The leap of faith was the key that opened up the door for the money we needed to see this promise fulfilled. Sometimes God will ask us to release what we have, in order to receive the fulfillment of a promise. 

 

It is not so that we can be emptied or suffer with lack, but it is so we can expand and increase with more. Because before there can be fruit, there needs to be a seed, and before there can be a promised land, there needs to be life given in FULL surrender to believe. 

 

There is a big difference between saying that we believe, and actually moving with action based on that belief. Before every action, there is an underlying motive. We are always, always moving by either faith or fear. 

 

Even the smallest decisions are motivated by our own inner belief system of faith or fear. I always have to check myself and ask myself the question…am I about to do this out of faith or fear?

 

God’s wisdom shows us what to do to see our promises fulfilled. It often requires that we lay our lives upon His heart and trust Him not to hurt us. His promises have been our lifeline for more than ten year. God is so faithful, loving, kind, and good. 

 

Over and over and over again, He has taken us to the promised land, and sometimes He takes us to the same place in a new way. He’s always teaching us something new, and giving us new encounters with His ever-present love and support. 

 

Anytime God asks you to give to someone else, it is so that He can increase you with more for yourself. If there is no seed, there is no harvest. Sure, we can survive on the bare minimum, but God’s promises are for an abundance, far more than we can ask, dream, or even pray to receive. 

 

He is the very best gardener, and His promised land is worth every moment of sacrifice and discomfort. Without going through the discomfort of facing fears, and taking giant leaps of faith, we would never know Him as the Comforter.  

 

The only pain that I experienced in this lesson was the pain of dying to my fears… God had to prove that they were wrong, and that the opposite of my fears were a promised outcome. 

 

In order to see extraordinary results and the dramatic moves into a promised land, then we must be willing to take big risks of faith and to leap with full dependence on Jesus. 

 

Faith requires action, otherwise it does nothing. No one who lays their life down for Him…their actual lives, their money, and their belongings…will ever regret it. He is the Savior, and His love will always be the rescue in times of need, when we believe. 

 

A release is often needed to receive, and a harvest comes from the seed. Without planting a garden, there can be no roses. In order to see rich new growth in your promised land, you must be willing to follow God with all-abandoned trust. 

 

He has more ways to provide for us, than we even know. His is the God of miracles, and just as He provides seed for the sower, He will generously supply more than enough, even more so we put our trust in His resources, and not how things look. 

 

The true harvest of faith comes the riches that we don’t see coming, not the natural world’s preplanned deposits. A God harvest is often a surprise, of more than we prayed or hoped for. 

 

Sometimes we have to shut down those logical thoughts about how and just choose to trust in God to be God…and know that He loves us and that His love will come through every time when we kneel in complete humility to believe. 

 

Very often we cannot see the next steps until we have started walking. Sometimes the only way to get to the next place is by a leap of faith…a wholehearted leap into God’s love. A swan dive into His promises, a choice to believe…even beyond what we can understand. 

 

His promises will materialize as we fall into His arms, and the rewards will be worth the risk of giving Him all our ourselves. A love that never fails, a love that is unbreakable, and perfectly safe to hold us in times of facing the daunting fears of the unknown. 

 

This is your sign to trust. 

 

To take the leap into LOVE. 

 

Hugs, 

 

Dannette

 

 

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