This week we are picking up in part 2 of the series “Lessons from the Wild”. Last week I encouraged you to climb the mountain and harness the mind. We have the capacity to overcome life’s challenges and reach our divine purpose. To do it, we must reject the desire for ease and harness our minds through God’s promises, presence, and perseverance—reframing difficult "mountains" as necessary opportunities for growth rather than burdens to avoid.

This morning, I want to challenge you to take the shot; you can’t be afraid to fail.

The Story:
Marcus and I were driving from one spot to another, and I observed an area that I thought might produce an opportunity. We parked the truck, grabbed our hunting packs and rifles, and moved out from the truck.

As we hiked, we stopped periodically to glass the area. As we came up over a ridge, I spotted a buck that initially looked like it was bedded down, sleeping near a dried creek bed. Although we both had a tag, I dropped my pack and told Marcus to get ready.

I grabbed my shooting sticks and made them ready for his rifle. He dropped his pack, came up with His rifle, and I could tell immediately His heart was pounding at the opportunity. This was not only our first chance at a potential shot, but it was the first time he had a target in his scope.

If you have been hunting before, then you know what I am talking about. For those who don’t, there is a huge adrenaline dump that happens, and it can be difficult to control it.

We get set up, I range the distance, and I told him to take a deep breath and fire when he was ready. Now, if you are in this moment for the first time. There is what seems like a million things rushing through your mind. Am I holding on the right spot? What if it runs off? What if I miss? What if I make a bad shot, and so on.

He gets ready, fires, and the shot misses. I told him to reload and take his time. The second shot was also a miss.

As you would expect, on our hike back to the truck, I could sense the frustration and disappointment in his voice, and because we had similar thinking, I knew he was replaying the scenario over and over in his head, ripping himself apart for missing.

As we walked, the Lord prompted me to remind him that you never know how you will react to something until you do it. Just take the shot. You Can’t be afraid to fail.

Life is filled with opportunities, but they are accompanied by risks and uncertainties. Throughout our lives, God will ask us to step into areas that are unfamiliar.

There will be many moments in the journey where we won’t have all the answers, and we will struggle to wrap our minds around the details. In these moments, we must condition ourselves to combat fear by stepping out in faith.

We all want everything to go perfectly the first time we try something new, but more often than not we fail to fully accomplish our objective the first time. Failure can be frustrating in the moment, but it’s not final.

Failure is essential to growth. Many times, you learn more from taking shots and missing than from success. You learn about yourself, you learn where you need further training, you discover where you lack knowledge, and that success itself is not automatic but earned.

A reality of life is this: if you never confront the fear and take the shot, you will never know what you're capable of. Unconfronted fear will rob us of God-given opportunities. To create future success, we must reframe our experiences with failure. We fail not because we are failures, but because we are stepping out into unknown territory by faith.

Throughout our lives, God will ask us to step into areas that are unfamiliar. We won’t have all the answers. We won’t be able to wrap our minds around every detail. We will simply have to step out in faith and take the shot. In these moments, we can’t allow fear to hold us back.

This moment for Peter represented a massive opportunity for personal revelation. So often, we focus on Jesus’ statement to Peter, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? But there is more to unpack than thinking Peter had little faith.

The narrative in this story presents Jesus, who, after spending time alone with His father, was walking across the turbulent waves of the Sea of Galilee towards the disciples. Mark’s gospel records that Jesus’ intent was not to stop and interact, but to pass them by.

They saw Jesus, supposing He was a ghost, and like all of us probably would. They freak out in fear, but Peter had a different response. Opportunity arose in his heart. Lord, if it’s you, command me to come.

Peter’s request carried profound weight. It reveals both his recognition of Jesus’s divine authority and his understanding of the conditions required for discipleship. Peter isn’t saying If it is you, in doubt. He is saying, since it is you, command me to come.

Peter in this moment recognizes the significance of Jesus walking on the water and His divine authority, and understands that as a disciple, if the teacher commands it, he can do it also.

A significant point to understand about this story is that Peter didn’t jump out of the boat; he waited for the command of Jesus. His restraint reveals something essential to discipleship. It reveals that supernatural power flows through obedience to Jesus’ word, not through independent initiative.

Discipleship involves both bold faith and humble dependence. Peter’s bold faith caused him to step out of the boat, but when it faltered and he began to sink, Jesus rescued him. Jesus’ statement, O you of little faith was not demeaning, but to remind him that he could have done it fully if he didn’t give place to doubt.

While this can seem like failure, it was actually growth.

The boat represents our comfort zone. The disciples were in a storm, but inside the boat felt predictable and safe. Jesus’ call to Peter was an invitation away from what was predictable to the unfamiliar. What this story illustrates, though, is that unfamiliar does not equal impossible. Staying in the boat would have been comfortable, but Peter would have missed the extraordinary revelation and experience of walking on water.

I said it earlier: failure is essential to growth, and un-confronted fear will rob us of God-given opportunities. Stepping out of the boat reminds us that combating fear isn't about the absence of a storm; it’s about choosing not to let the storm dictate our steps.

The fear of stepping out is almost always more paralyzing than the reality of the journey itself. The worst-case scenario isn’t as fatal as fear wants you to believe. Peter in this story did sink, but he didn’t drown.

As I shared about Marcus taking the shot, stepping out in faith doesn’t guarantee you won’t miss or stumble, but it does guarantee that you are stepping out into a space where God’s hand is right there to catch you.

Remember this about the boat: staying in it carries a hidden cost. The other eleven disciples stayed safe and dry, but they also remained passive. They chose self-preservation and comfort over growth. They missed out on both the revelation and the physical experience of doing the impossible.

Sinking while daring to move forward in faith yields far more maturity than sitting comfortably in the boat. Faith doesn’t deny the wind and waves; it simply invites the God of the impossible into the equation.

Fear gains power when we dwell on it, and its aim is to turn our attention away from our source of strength, which is the word, power, and presence of God. We can’t dwell on fear-filled thoughts. We must take them captive.

When we step out in faith, we overcome fear by remembering that it is God who calls us out, and that He has authority over the wind and waves.