Some years ago, I chaperoned some students on a team-building excursion. One exercise involved standing on top of a thirty-foot pole and jumping to catch a trapeze bar. Of course, we would be harnessed in, but a lot of fear can run through your mind when you’re standing thirty feet in the air. I know. I was “volunteered” to be the first one to make the climb and jump.

Climbing the small pegs to the top of the pole was daunting; standing on the small platform was worse. But the worst was yet to come. Even though I was wearing a harness, fear gripped me as I looked at the trapeze bar six feet away. With a crowd of teenagers eyeing me, I counted to three and leaped. I grabbed the bar!

Courage: Leaping in the face of fear!“

What was interesting is that fear didn’t leave me. I leaped despite it. That’s courage: leaping in the face of fear. Jesus’s disciples in Matthew 14 had an opportunity to exhibit such courage— and we do too. The key is following God’s instructions, fixing our eyes on Jesus, and trusting that He will keep you.