Matthew 14 records an incident when the disciples were caught in a storm in the middle of the sea when suddenly they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water:
Peter said, “Lord, if it really is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come!” Peter stepped out of the boat, and walked on the water towards Jesus. But he saw the strong wind and got scared and started to sink, crying out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus stretched out his hand and grabbed him, saying, “Little-faith, why did you doubt?”
It’s hard to imagine anyone having sufficient courage to step out onto the water in the middle of a storm in the way Peter did. It was a challenge to do something so courageous and so far beyond his own capabilities that he couldn’t possibly have succeeded without God’s help. The downside risk was pretty deep. Maybe there were sharks below the water. Maybe he wasn’t that great at swimming. Maybe his friends and family were watching and he would have been totally embarrassed to fall.
But if you don’t have the courage to take the risk when the call from God comes to step out and do something risky and dangerous, you never get to find out what the rest of your life was meant to be like. Somehow we’ve been sold the lie that being a follower of Jesus is about playing it safe, when the complete opposite is true. How can you sincerely say you have faith in Jesus if you have never experienced his miraculous power rescuing you from a situation where you couldn’t save yourself?