Did you grow up in a home where safety was valued above all else? You weren’t allowed to participate in some of the same things your peers were because it was considered too risky? Maybe you learned to never get too excited, never believe for too much.

Maybe your story was the opposite. Maybe you developed fears from experiences where you did take risk and no one was there to protect or defend you. Or maybe you fell somewhere in the middle. No matter what your story, we all deal with fears. And our natural inclination is to seek safety and comfort whether physical or emotional.

Fear isn’t wrong. In fact, our brain uses fear to protect us from harm.

But, as Christians, sometimes we allow fear to keep us from taking risks because we don’t believe God for too much, we opt to stay safe, stay in the boat and never leave status quo.

In order to follow God wholeheartedly, we must relinquish the tendency to play it safe.

Faith is about taking a risk. It is stepping out of our comfort zone, outside our capabilities and depending on what we need God to do.

And without faith it is impossible to please God…

Hebrews 11:6

I don’t know about you, but I want to please God which means I want to live a life of risk–a life of faith.

That means I take a step outside my comfort zone. I risk failure, I risk rejection, I risk people talking about me or hurting me.

And I’m guessing if you’re anything like me, that makes you nervous. I don’t want to experience any of those things. But you know what I do want to experience?

I want to experience the divine.

I want to experience the only-God-can-do-that in my life. And I can’t experience the divine, if I don’t take a step outside the boat and walk on the water.

I’ve been so moved recently by the story of Peter walking on the water. It was pretty impressive, actually. But, you know what else it was?

It was a risk! It was a risk because Peter took a step outside of the boat in the middle of the storm. And when he got out the boat, he walked on water and then he slipped. He messed up. That sounds about right to me. I take a risk and then I do something stupid. But you know what Peter did despite messing up? He experienced the divine. He experienced the impossible apart from Jesus. Peter did not settle for the status-quo.

As a Christ-follower, I’m not okay with status-quo. If I am, I don’t know what the big deal of following Jesus is. Jesus is calling you and me to more. He is calling us to experience His transforming work that comes when we step outside our comfort zone and risk losing control. It’s when we step out in faith that we experience what those who stayed safely in the boat will never experience and it will absolutely change everything.

Fear doesn’t magically disappear but it doesn’t have to win. Fear on its own paralyzes us. Fear cripples us. If the enemy can’t have your soul, he will try to convince you to live safe so that you never step out in faith and experience everything God has purposed for your life. But fear when paired with faith doesn’t stand a chance because greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)