| “But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”” – Luke 5:5 |
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| Choosing to TRUST and OBEY What He Says Various stories in the Bible help us to see the real-life struggles of trusting and obeying the Lord. The story of Jesus telling Simon Peter (a professional fisherman) to launch out into the deep and drop his nets for a catch is one of those stories. To get the full understanding of the struggles and then the surrender notice Luke 5:1-4. It says, “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the Word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon Peter, the professional fisherman has just heard an order from a carpenter that goes against what Peter knows about fishing. Peter responds with a REASON that what Jesus just said will not work. They had already been fishing and had come up empty. And coming up empty as a fisherman is embarrassing. This order to go fishing in the wrong place at the wrong time looked to Peter that he was going to be embarrassed again. So he tells Jesus, his master, “Master, we have toiled (labored, wore ourselves out) all night and caught nothing.” I see myself and maybe you see yourself sounding like Peter as Jesus tells us what He wants us to do. I KNOW what works and what does not work. I KNOW what looks absurd and ridiculous and yes what is impossible. I am thinking you have been there with God. Maybe you are there at this very moment. What do YOU do when God tells you to do what appears to be absurd, ridiculous, and impossible? I think this story is so helpful as we struggle with what God wants us to do. We can learn from Simon Peter how he made the decision to TRUST and OBEY what seems absurd – ridiculous – crazy – impossible. His decision starts with one word and that word is NEVERTHELESS. “Nevertheless” reveals a change, a change of thinking. Peter is going to TRUST that Jesus knows best. Make no mistake Luke 5:5 is a major moment in the development of Simon Peter’s faith. With the word “NEVERTHELESS,” he moved to the level of TRUSTING AND OBEYING. If we are going to OBEY Jesus there will be a crucial moment where we have to TRUST Him. We will have to decide to stop believing that we know what is best and decide that HE KNOWS BEST. It is not easy. The struggle is real. That is why you will have to say NEVERTHELESS! Verse to DATE the Word on May 5 (5/5) is Luke 5:5. It says, “But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net.” Are you facing a NEVERTHELESS moment right now? Let Peter’s story of struggling with doing what Jesus said encourage you, encourage you to TRUST AND OBEY. Oh BTW, don’t miss the results of trusting and obeying. Luke 5:6 “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.” What Jesus said would happen did happen. Continue Strong TRUSTING AND OBEYING JESUS And remember to DATE THE WORD |