Our youngest granddaughter Lucy is a typical one-year-old, full of joy, energy, and abandon. On a recent visit, Lucy would climb up on the coffee table, nod her head up and down, and take a flying leap into my arms! She never grew tired of doing this. She had a confident trust that I would catch her every time.

Sometimes having a confident trust in God feels a bit like we’re taking a flying leap. There’s a fine line between faith and foolishness, I know because I’ve taken a flying leap and crossed that line into foolishness a few times. Foolish leaps are often knee-jerk reactions and quite painful. They usually have lasting consequences. Responding with a confident trust in God can be a little scary. It does require me to wait upon Him for direction and wisdom and then step out in faith. Putting my trust in what God has ordained for me gives me courage. Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

The basis for a confident trust in God is knowing He has a plan for each of us. His plans are for our good and always for His glory. The moment we become believers, He begins His perfecting work in us by fine-tuning us, molding us into His image and yes, at times crushing us. It’s a life-long process up until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6 has special meaning for me. I became a Christian in my senior year of college. A staff member for Campus Crusade for Christ took me under her wing, her name was Jane. She loved, mentored, and discipled me. She gave me a Bible and wrote Philippians 1:6 in the front. I felt deeply loved by Jane. Her investment in me resulted in me becoming a Christian. It set me on a path of loving, encouraging, and discipling others—just what she had done for me.

When you read Philippians 1, you get a deep sense of Paul’s love for these people. He says things like, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” He goes on to say, “I have you in my heart.” He speaks of his confidence in them that God is at work in their lives and will do so until the end. His prayer for them in verses 9-11 is rich and deep in his love for the Philippians. The fact that he wrote this letter to them while in prison makes this all the more poignant.

Paul also calls himself a bondservant of Christ Jesus. His sincere gratitude and love for his Savior was his motivation for ministry and discipleship. He was bound to Christ forever, no matter the risks and disappointments. Paul took leaps of faith, which often resulted in beatings, persecutions, being misunderstood, and imprisonments. Sometimes God asks things of us that seem risky and scary. It’s way out of our comfort zone. When God asks these things of me, I want to respond in faith. I must climb up on my coffee table of trust, so to speak, nod my head up and down, and put my confident trust in Him.

I still have that first Bible Jane gave me. Like an old Greek manuscript, the pages are torn, and part of the verse from Philippians 1:6 is missing. I replaced it with a new one and wrote Philippians 1:6 in the front. I want to be more like our little Lucy, nodding my head up and down, trusting God for what’s next, and taking a confident, joyful leap of faith into Christ’s arms. He will catch me and lead me every time.