Gone Fishin’

Oh Peter. I felt compelled to study this man a little further. Peter, also called Simon, was one of the twelve disciples. What I love about Peter is that he had a heart for Jesus but he also struggled with his faith. At times, he needed Jesus to “show him” things to increase his faith.

While studying Peter, I couldn’t help but relate to him in so many ways. As I read a few stories again, I received some new revelations and I want to take today’s post to discuss one of them.

Luke 5:1-5 (NLT) reads: “One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”Master,” Simon replied, “We worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

While reading it, I had a hard time moving from the word “deeper.” I imagined Peter and others would go fishing in an area where they frequented. An area that was familiar to them. But then Jesus said, “go where it is deeper.”

Deeper than where they’ve been….deeper than the norm. And it is in that place where they received more than they intended.

It made me think and dwell about this deeper place. I consider myself to be a “go-getter”…..but I’m safe. I like things to be comfortable. I don’t mind change but usually like to be the one who initiates the change.

But could it be that the very things we believe and pray for cause us to go to a place where we aren’t comfortable, a place that’s unfamiliar, a place that’s deeper?

I believe if we can push past our fears and move towards the unknown in faith, God will honor it. I often believe that sometimes the thing that gives us anxiety and makes us terrified is the very thing that is needed to push us a little deeper…deeper in faith and obedience.

I have known someone to struggle with her finances. She grew up with financial struggles and is now at a place where she’s comfortable. God has placed business ventures on her heart but the fear of going back to struggling keeps her from experiencing what God wants for her life. There is a fear of going deeper because in her mind, if she fails, she will be without. However, I believe if it is truly a God idea, it will prevail. If you are obedient to what God wants from you (even when you don’t have all the details) and you move in faith anyways, He will open the doors needed to bring the idea to life.

God wants us to be comfortable being uncomfortable. He wants us to get to a point where we don’t allow our fears to keep us from anything he’s calling us towards. He wants us to trust him and his plans. And once we do, we will realize that his plans are (and have always been) so much greater than ours.

I want to be like Peter in this story who went deeper even after he had worked hard previously and saw nothing from it. He could have easily gone back and forth with Jesus based on his previous experience but he chose to be obedient…. and through his obedience he found an even bigger blessing.