We sometimes see courageous people as people who are not afraid of anything.

But that's not true.

Courage is not the absence of fear.

Courage is choosing to do what is right or necessary even when fear is present.

You can be nervous and courageous.

You can be uncertain and courageous.

You can feel inadequate and courageous.

You can have questions and still take the next step.

Think about Peter stepping out of the boat in Matthew 14.

Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and asked to come to Him.

Jesus said, "Come."

Peter stepped out.

That took courage.

But Peter eventually became afraid when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wind and waves.

His problem wasn't that the storm suddenly appeared.

The storm has been there.

His focus changed.

He stopped looking at Jesus and started focusing on the circumstances around him.

How often do we do the same?

How often do we make our problem look bigger than Jesus?

God says, "Move forward."

We take a step.

Then we look at the obstacles.

We look at what other people are doing.

We look at our bank account.

We look at our grades.

We look at our past.

We look at how far we still have to go.

And suddenly, what God told us to do seems impossible.

And you know what,

Fear grows when we keep looking at the size of the problem and forget the size of the God who is with us.

If only we could decide to shift our focus today from the problems, challenges, and circumstances around us and fix it on God.

We would begin to find the courage and strength needed for the task and journey ahead. 

Fixing our eyes on God would feel difficult at first, but the reward is in remaining focused on Him.

And nothing would be difficult for us