A Giant Leap of Faith

Over the course of my twenty-five years of following Christ I have taken many steps of faith. I have often preached or written about many of these. It is something I have resolved to do for the rest of my days.

Many years ago I sat in a youth camp worship service. The Lord stirred my heart as I reflected on the life and resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. I thought about a resolution I might make to the Lord. After a few moments I committed to the Lord, “I would run to the cutting edge of faith and leap over that edge every time He called me to for the rest of my life.” You have no idea how many times I have secretly wished I had never made that resolution.

Over and over again the Lord has held me to that resolution. At times it has meant giving away money or possessions. At other times the Lord mandated that I take major leadership risks such as leading FBC Paradise to relocate and build new buildings debt free. One morning the Lord called me to make a specific appeal for money to help another person, and to ask for a car to be given to a needy family. I have been prompted to witness to people and invite people to church.

On such occasions my heartbeat increases, I get nervous and I think about that resolution. Instead of falling back in unbelief I run toward the cutting edge of the safe and the secure and leap into the unknown trusting God to help. I have been privileged to witness the Lord do some extraordinary things in faith. That makes the leaping worth while.

When the Lord called me to hold a ten-day revival here in Seminole and then told me it would last for weeks, I hesitated. Once I knew the Lord really wanted to do it, I nervously stood before the congregation to jump out of the boat and to cast vision for the revival. There were skeptics but when the revival lasted a little over three weeks and numerous people were saved, I was glad I took the leap.

All of this to say I am no stranger to faith walking and preaching. Faith is one of my all time favorite subjects. I’ve had a multitude of experiences the past three days that called me to take another giant leap of faith. This is a leap I have hesitated to take for at least ten years. I have prayed. I have waited. In this one area, though, I did not take the leap.

Let me fill in the details. God called me to write since I was a little boy. Though not saved until I turned seventeen, I still felt a burning desire to write since I was twelve years old. I took this more seriously in my mid-twenties when the Lord resurfaced this dream in my heart to write for Him. The call on my life to preach and the call on my life to write were both from Him. I felt liberated when I knew God willed for me to do both.

During the next several years I wrote several books and self-published three. I wrote numerous others that were either filed away or lost in different from ministry assignment to the next. I sent one manuscript to Multnomah Publishers and got what authors refer to as a rejection slip. I tried one other mainline publisher whom I never heard back from. So I pursued publication through paying for it myself. This worked well in the beginning. Over the years my prayers began to change. I wanted to see my books impact people on a broader scale but the ability to distribute my books limited itself to the area I lived in.

The more I wrote the greater the dream in my heart grew to want to be published. Here is where I would hesitate for over a decade. I could not conceive of any publisher wanting to publish a book written by an unknown author like me. I waffled back and forth on this for over a decade. I never sent a book proposal or a manuscript to any agent or publisher. I kept answering my own prayer.

On Monday I received an email from a lady who read one of my books and the Lord touched her deeply. The email encouraged me to keep writing. Not long after that a lady came by my office to purchase some books. She has bought at least a dozen over the past month. We began talking about my writing ministry and she told me she thought people saw me as one who sat before the Lord and heard from Him and then through preaching and writing I communicate what the Lord revealed to me. Her comment finished with the truth that many people wait for each blog I write. Her comments left me musing that I have to work more diligently at a writing ministry. Believe it or not, I received another email from a lady who read one of my blogs and welcomed me back after a near two-month hiatus from writing. I became so burned out after the revival I had nothing to write about. God has restored inspiration to me in the past few weeks.

The Seminole Seekers Writer’s Group met on Tuesday. I have missed the last three meetings. For some reason, I felt compelled to attend. A lady who recently signed a contract to publish a series of children’s books spoke to us. The one thing she spoke about that gripped my heart focused on getting an agent. A literary agent markets your manuscripts for you to publishers for a commission of the sales.

I had not forgotten that this morning when I closed the door in the prayer room at church to seek the Lord. I prayed over many issues including getting an agent and getting my books published. I opened my Bible to where I left off reading last time, Exodus chapter three. This is the chapter where God calls Moses to go deliver Israel from Egypt. God spoke to me through that chapter. I am like Moses making excuses why He can’t use me and how unable I am for the task. God’s simple message today was, “Go now. I will be with you.”

I could not believe the timing of reading about Moses. God orchestrated the perfect reading for that moment in time. Earlier in the morning I had read Genesis 45-Exodus 2 around 4:00 a.m. I went back to bed for a bit before starting my day. It did not dawn on me at the time of that reading God had a divine appointment for me later in the day. I simply stopped reading.

After reading Exodus 3 in the prayer room, I wanted to sit still and listen to God. I bowed my head, cleared my thoughts and voiced this simple prayer. “Please show me what to do. I need to hear from you. I want to join you in what you are doing. Do you have anything to say to me?” The Lord had already spoken through Exodus 3 but I wanted clearer details. I know nothing about securing a literary agent. I did the same thing I have done time and time again when the Lord calls me to take a leap of faith. I sought Him for more clarity.

What happened next stunned me. I still cannot believe it even though it happened about nine hours ago. While sitting still before the Lord with no agenda other than to hear from Him, He began to speak. Here is what I sensed the Lord say to me. “I have an agent picked for you in Texas. Pursue finding this agent. It will be a woman and she works in Dallas.”

When I finished praying I returned to my office. I googled, “Christian Literary Agents.” I was directed to a site hosted by the president of Thomas-Nelson Publishers. He wrote about finding agents and listed contact information for what he considered to be the top forty. I scrolled down praying under my breath, “Lord, let there be a lady from Dallas on the list.” I saw people from Oregon, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and New York. Finally my eyes fell across the state of Texas for an agent. As I scanned to the left it turned out they were based in Amarillo. A few minutes later I got another false alarm from an agent stationed in San Antonio. As I neared the end of the list I began to doubt I had heard from God. I have gotten it wrong many times before. I nearly leapt from my seat when I saw the words Dallas, Texas after scrolling down further. It became even clearer when I looked at the name of the agent and found her name. Yes, a female agent who works in Dallas! I am not through. The company she owns works with some of the best selling authors alive today. Her company is a major force in the literary world.

I knew at this point I had to follow through in obedience. I found her website and located her submission guidelines. I typed two different letters about two different books I proposed for publication. I prayed over the letters and then sent them out in faith knowing I had heard from God and been obedient. Now it is time to watch God work.

That might not seem like a giant leap of faith to you but it is to me. I have battled this lack of confidence about I would ever getting published for over a decade. In fear I have shrunk back in lack of obedience and unbelief. Over and over again for years God has convicted me but I rationalized my way out of it every time until today. So here I am after having taken a huge leap of faith.

I believe God wills for me to be a published author. I believe He wills for my books to be distributed on a broader scale. Would you pray for a lady with the initials J.M. God knows who she is. Please pray for favor as she reads my book proposals and that she will feel God’s call to be my agent. I trust God to make this long awaited dream become a reality. Thank you for your prayers in my leap of faith. I will be glad to pray for you when you take that leap as well. [Luke 1:37]

Now it is time for you to leap. There is something God is calling you to do and you keep shrinking back in fear and unbelief. If I can leap then you can leap with me. Let us believe God to make the impossible possible for the glory of His name.