Courage, Not Fear

Today I want us to look at replacing our fear with courage. Are any of you afraid of heights? I'll have to admit that I am one that is very afraid of heights. When I was in my teenage years, I was helping my dad and brother replace the water lines and sucker rods in his well. He had a windmill that drew the water from the well.

To pull the pipe and sucker rods from the well, you have to use a chain hoist because you are pulling 8 to 10, 20 ft links of pipe and they are very heavy. We would tie the chain around the pipe at the base of the windmill and hoist it almost to the top of the windmill using the windmill as the frame. As the first link of pipe was hoisted up to the top of the windmill, my job was to climb to the top of the windmill and release the chain to drop it down for the next link of pipe.

As I stated, I am afraid of heights. The first three to four links of pipe went slowly because I felt I needed to hang on for dear life. But as the job went on, I developed more and more courage and paid no attention to the height. Eventually, my courage overcame my fear.

What is interesting is that the fear didn't really leave me. Yet I overcame that fear with courage. That’s the theme of this message—overcoming fear with courage. Jesus's disciples in Matthew 14 had the opportunity to exhibit courage, and we do too. The key is fixing our eyes on Jesus, trusting that He will do what only He can do. Prayer.

Matthew 14 records some significant moments in Jesus's ministry. The chapter begins with the beheading of John the Baptist, the same John who prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus surely knew John from childhood, since their mothers were related, so even as He expressed grief at the death of Lazarus, He was also touched by the death of John.

We are told that when Jesus heard about the beheading of John, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. After the news, Jesus wanted some time alone with His Father. Later is this chapter, we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Let’s pick up that story right after the 5000 were fed.

Matthew 14:22-26 – “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone.

********24 Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost!’ they said, and they cried out in fear.”

The crowds followed Jesus and sought him out. Matthew tells us that Jesus responded to the crowd with compassion, healing the sick among them. This time of healing led to Jesus feeding the crowd with five loaves and two fishes.

Still, Jesus hadn't had that much-needed time with His Father. So, when the meal was over, He sent His disciples on, dismissed the crowds, and went up on a mountain to be by Himself to pray. While Jesus was praying, the boat that Jesus had told His disciples to get in was being rocked by the waves and the wind.

I want to pause already in this story because this is a great reminder for all of us. This tells me that God's Will and direction for us may lead us into a storm. Some lessons are learned only in the middle of a storm. But Jesus will use whatever means necessary to refine us and make us more like Himself.

As we are going to see, this became a strong faith building moment for the disciples, but they would have missed this opportunity if they were unwilling to be obedient to the one thing Jesus told them to do: get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side. They followed His directions.

So the disciples found themselves on a boat in the middle of a storm. This was probably not the first time these fishermen had gotten caught in a storm, but what happened next was a first. In this boat being rocked by the storm, in the middle of the night, they see a figure that was walking near them on the water. Of course, they were afraid and they even called it a ghost.