Do leaps of faith ever go wrong?  Are they always positive? Does a leap of faith ever land us in a place we would rather not be? Lately, I overheard someone describe taking a “Leap of Faith” and how the result was better than they ever could have imagined. As they described it, taking this leap lead them into untold blessings, glories, and an acceptance of their God-given purpose. I try not to be cynical, but I have found that when one’s faith experiences seem too good to be true, it probably is.

Don’t get me wrong, leaps of faith can produce mountains of blessings in our lives and open us to new experiences of Jesus’ love and grace. But there is another side of our faith leaps, one we rarely talk about. This is when our leap of faith does not land us in the grand or the glorious, but creates more questions than answers, or fosters more confusion than clarity.

Has this been your experience? Largely, it’s been mine.

Of course, this is now how we want our life of faith to be.  We want our faith to be simple: We call, God answers; we set out on a journey, and the Spirit leads; we leap, and in the words of Kandyse McLure, we “either land somewhere new or we learn to fly.” While this sounds nice, and blissfully easy, this is not what the Bible reveals. Throughout the Bible, the people of faith leap into moments of profound unknowing.  For example, Noah took a leap of faith when he made the Ark, and it landed him drifting aimlessly for 40 days and 40 nights. He didn’t know where he would land, or even if the waters would ever recede. Elijah fared no better. He took a leap of faith to confront the prophets of Baal, and that action left him running for his life and hiding in a cave.

And what of the disciples? They faithfully leapt into a life with Jesus, which seemed glorious when he surrounded them with miracles and majesties; but then Jesus was arrested, executed, and buried. In the moment their leap didn’t seem all that glorious. “We had hoped that he would be the one who was going to redeem Israel”, they lamented (Luke 24:21).  In the shadow of the cross, their leap of faith probably seemed like an utter mistake.

Of course, we know the story, and we know Good Friday leads triumphantly into Easter Sunday.  But this doesn’t negate the fact that the disciples often faced times of deep unknowing. Even following Christ’s resurrection, the disciples leapt into times when Christ’s Kingdom seem agonizingly absent. Make no mistake, a leap of faith isn’t always easy, and sometimes, it can seem utterly, and profoundly, un-glorious.

But this doesn’t mean that our faith has gone wrong. Just because we can’t perceive what Jesus is doing, doesn’t mean he isn’t doing something. Despite the dynamics that swirl around us, or the length of time that we might have to tarry within a situation, we can be confident that Jesus is present in all circumstances. Jesus works beyond our perceptions and understandings. This means we can claim his promise of strength, grace, healing, and love, even if we struggle to see them in the moment.

No, our leap of faith isn’t always positive. Like the disciples before us, we might land in a place where we would rather to be. But this is the way of faith. Whether we find ourselves surrounded by miracles, or walking through a time of confusion, our leap is always the same; we leap into the way of Jesus. We follow him to the cross. This means that at times we will join him in praying through the darkness of Gethsemane, and at times we will rejoice in the resurrection.

But the good news is that in each of those times, he is there.

Are you facing the shadow-side of a leap of faith? Do you find yourself on a journey where the end seems frustratingly undefined? Take heart. Even if you feel spiritually adrift or lost, unmoored from promise or purpose, you can be confident that Jesus is present, and he is more active than you can imagine.

Because the leap of faith isn’t defined by what we leap into, but by the one who leaps with us.