> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://onwrd.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Get Out of the Boat - URL: https://onwrd.ghost.io/getoutoftheboat/ - Published: 2026-08-10T11:00:21.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-17T13:58:42.000Z - Author: Billy Haley If you have watched the news lately, you know the world feels like it is shaking. War headlines. Drone strikes. Wildfires burning out of control. Mass shootings ind broad daylight. Families struggling to make ends meet. It does not take much to feel the waves rising around you. So let's talk about fear. I believe it is one of the most common things every single one of us wrestles with, whether we admit it or not. Psychologists say there are over 2,000 different fears and phobias that people deal with. Fear of heights. Fear of small spaces. Fear of the dark. Fear of spiders. Some are almost funny to say out loud, but fear itself is no laughing matter. It is real, and it is powerful, and if we are not careful it will control our lives. There is a story in Matthew 14 that speaks directly into this. Jesus had sent His disciples ahead of Him in a boat while He went up on a mountain to pray. While they were out on the water, a fierce storm came up. The wind was against them, the waves were growing, and the boat was being tossed back and forth. Then, in the middle of the night, Jesus came walking toward them on the water. And instead of feeling relief, the disciples were terrified. They thought He was a ghost. The Bible says they cried out for fear. That story has stuck with me because I think it captures something true about how fear works in our lives. The disciples were not just afraid of one thing that night. They were afraid of two things. ## Afraid of the Situation The first fear was the storm itself. They were afraid of the wind, the waves, the circumstances swirling around them. And honestly, that is where most of us live a lot of the time. We are afraid of what is happening around us. The diagnosis. The bill that is due. The relationship that is falling apart. The headlines. The uncertainty of what tomorrow holds. But here is something worth remembering. The storm was not actually the problem in the boat. A boat is built to float. It can handle wind and waves. The real danger is not the storm outside the boat, it is the storm getting inside the boat. Boats only sink when the water on the outside finds its way to the inside. You can be right in the middle of a storm and still be okay. Waves can be rising all around you and you can still have peace. You can still have joy. But the moment you let what is happening around you get inside of you, that is when you start to sink. That is when the storm moves from your circumstances into your conversations, your thought life, your attitude. So here is a question worth sitting with. What is going on around you right now that is starting to get inside of you? One way to find out is to simply listen to yourself. Listen to what you talk about most. The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Whatever fills your heart is what is going to come out of your mouth. If all you talk about is what is wrong, who hurt you, what did not work out, that tells you something about what has gotten inside. I have known people who have gone through incredibly hard things, yet you would never know it by talking to them, because they are still praising God. It is not that they ignore the reality of their storm. It is that they have also recognized the power of the One who controls the wind and the waves. They have put their faith in God over their fear of the storm. ## Afraid of the Solution The second fear the disciples faced is one we do not talk about as often. They were not just afraid of the storm, they were also afraid of the solution. When Jesus showed up walking on the water, the very answer to their problem, they did not recognize Him. ***Sometimes God is hard to recognize in the middle of a storm.*** Think about that. This was the same Jesus they had walked with for months. But in that moment, in that storm, they could not tell if it was Him or a ghost. And what did most of them do? Nothing. They stayed in the boat. Fear has a way of paralyzing us into inaction, even when the answer is right in front of us. But one of them, Peter, did something different. He called out, "Lord, if it is You, bid me to come." Out of twelve men in that boat, only one was willing to step out. Peter wanted more. He wanted to know Jesus in a way he had never known Him before. He was willing to leave the safety of the boat for the opportunity to walk toward Jesus on the water. I believe there is a version of that boat many of us are sitting in right now. Maybe it is a dream God placed in you a long time ago. Maybe it is a step of faith you know you are supposed to take but fear keeps talking you out of it. Where you are right now might not be where God is calling you to stay. ## Leaving Fear in the Boat The Bible is clear that fear is a spirit. It is a spirit that robs you of joy. It keeps you living in your past instead of your future. It reminds you of your weaknesses instead of your strengths. But Scripture also says there is no fear in love, because perfect love casts out fear. And there is no greater picture of that love than what Jesus did on the cross. He gave His life so that we could be free, including free from fear. So wherever you find yourself today, in the middle of a real storm, surrounded by headlines and circumstances that feel overwhelming, I want to remind you of something. The storm outside the boat is not what sinks you. What you allow inside of you is what sinks you. Ask yourself what you would do if you had no fear. Whatever answer comes to mind, that is probably what fear has been holding you back from. It might be time to step out of the boat.