Fear is a powerful emotion. We see that play out in today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, where the disciples and Jesus encounter a violent storm as they sail. This made me recall our family adventure as I took the family out on a day sail when we lived in Okinawa. I had been sailing for several years and teaching Red Cross Sailing lessons, so I asked the kids if they wanted to go out and see the cargo ships that they said were “parked” on the water. About halfway to the cargo ships, I noticed a small storm on the horizon, and given the changing wind direction, I knew that we could not make it back into port before it hit us. I calmly explained to my wife and children that some rain was coming and we would probably get wet, but everything would be fine. As the storm approached, the wind picked up, and the water got a little rougher. When the rain and wind hit us, the wife and kids were in full “scared for our lives” mode. The squall lasted maybe a couple of minutes. As things settled, I asked if they wanted to continue our journey to see the cargo ships. I failed to notice that our boat was filled with mutinous family members who wished to keel haul me. Their rained-soaked mother’s reply was to stare at me in that “you’ve got to be kidding” look. Thankfully we had no more issues in getting back to the docks. As I talked about this years later with my oldest son and daughter and asked what created the fear they expressed, they responded by saying they were fearful of not knowing what the storm would do to us and how we would get help if the boat capsized. When I asked why they didn’t trust God was with us, my son quickly replied, “Was he mad at you?” I responded, “Why did you say that?” My quick-witted son replied, “Why else did that storm come out of nowhere and almost drown us?” As grown adults, we can now laugh at that adventure and realize, as the disciples did in hearing Jesus’s response to their fear, that we cannot let fear get a hold of our hearts and minds in times of stress. When we face real-life unknowns: cancer diagnosis, lost job, car accident, crazy sailing adventures – we need to hold fast to the promises of God’s word that he will be with us through every trial and tribulation.