Cast Your Net!

Today, as I read from the Gospel of Luke, God gripped my heart. He filled me with a message that I just KNOW is for MANY MANY MANY of us...not just me! HOPE it ministers to you, like it did to me!

In Luke 5:1-5 I read, "One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."  Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

AHHHHH! As I read this passage, obscure parts captured my attention. It was as if I could feel what Peter must have felt and imagined what he must have thought.

Words leaped off the page as I read, Jesus "saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets." 

Can you imagine how Peter must have felt? Try as he may, there were no results to show for his effort. Cast after cast produced nothing except tangled lines and weary arms. All night long he fished. He did what he was supposed to do. BUT NOTHING! NO RESULTS.

So, fatigued and frustrated he called it a night. His boat was out of the water. His nets were being cleaned. In Peter's mind, it was over.

I can imagine ALL TOO WELL what Peter might have been thinking...No plentiful bounty. No BIG catch. No food. No payment. NOTHING to show for his effort...BUT THEN...there was Jesus.

Again, a seemingly obscure passage gripped me by the heart. I read, "He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore." Here it is. Jesus gets into Simon's boat and says take me out in your boat. Let me speak from your vessel." An invitation I've heard many times. So many times, at the bleakest and most in-opportune moments, God steps in and says let me use what you've got. Let me speak from your vessel.

In my mind I argue, "But God, I'm tired. I'm finished. I'm going home. I have to clean up this mess. My nets are all tangled. They need cleaned." But before I speak, Jesus resolve silences my fears and vanquishes my fatigue.

How could I say no to Him. So...out we go in the boat. I think to myself, I guess I'll clean up the mess later. I'll go along for the ride and then sneak off for a silent retreat...But God doesn't leave me there...Next comes the unimaginable. The command. The test of all tests. "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 

Peter had to think...You have to be kidding. We've fished all night. We've spent all our energy. THERE ARE NO FISH! He whispers "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything."

Oh how many times I've whispered weary words of I'm DONE! I CAN'T!!! It's IMPOSSIBLE!!!  I'm so tired of casting and never catching!!!

BUT...just as I prepare to say NO WAY...a glimmer of hope rises. Faith stirs. A call of obedience wrestles and stirs within me an abandonment to Jesus' voice. I SENSE God's RESOLVE...And, like Peter, I cry out, "because you say so, I will let down the nets."

Friend, the result of obedience invites the miraculous and allows God to do the impossible!

"When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken..." (NIV)

Peter fell at Jesus' feet. There was no doubt who produced the miracle.

So, what net is God calling you to cast? Is it faithfulness and servanthood within your marriage? How about your call to ministry? Maybe to keep on dreaming? What net is God asking you to cast one more time? What steps of obedience is He calling you to?

Whatever it is...CAST IT!

God does what we are powerless to do. When we've exhausted all our energy...when we have nothing to show for all of our hard work...we have to remember to be faithful.

Don't give up! God does the impossible. So, let's cast our net and entrust GOD with the catch!