Put Out Into the Deep

Luke 5:4-11 ESV

And when Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

What may look impossible, in our human thinking and reasoning, is not impossible with God if it is within his divine will and purpose to do it. For we serve the God of the impossible. Or just because it appears nothing is happening doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. We just can’t see the fruit of it yet. Or if in the past we kept coming up against “roadblock after roadblock,” it doesn’t mean that the next door won’t open for us. 

Sometimes the Lord allows these things to take place in our lives so that we learn that we must depend on him, and that we must trust him to do it, and to humble us and so we know that when it does happen that it didn’t come from us or from anything we did, but so we would know without a doubt that this came from God. And so all the glory then goes to God and not to ourselves. For seeming failures are sometimes steppingstones to success.

So, what am I talking about here? I am not talking about fish and catching literal fish. For I am seeing this story here more from a spiritual rather than a literal perspective. For sometimes in our Christian lives, even when we are obeying the Lord, and when we are walking in his ways and in his truth, we will have doors slammed in our faces. Even though we may be doing all the right things, it seems like we keep running up against “brick walls.”

And it can get discouraging, especially when we are young and not as mature in the Lord as we may be now. And so we may even begin to question ourselves and to wonder if we heard the Lord right or we may even feel abandoned by God or be afraid of what other humans might do to us, not understanding that God is fully sovereign over our lives and that he allows difficult circumstances to come into our lives to mature us in him.

So, just because it didn’t happen yet it doesn’t mean it won’t happen, or just because we can’t see what is happening, it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. But God is getting us ready for the next step. He is preparing our minds and our hearts, perhaps for something we never even thought of, not in our wildest imaginations. For Simon Peter and his fishing buddies would never have imagined what Jesus did. It was a miracle of miracles!

I think sometimes we humans give up too easily. We get discouraged and so we retreat. We see those obstacles in our way as not something to conquer and to overcome, but we see them as something to defeat us, to stop us from moving forward. And so we may quit. I know that I did that for a period of time when the Lord was getting me ready for what he had called me to do, although I didn’t know that was what was happening at the time.

And granted it can be very disheartening when we are walking with the Lord and doors keep slamming in our faces (figuratively speaking). And we may cry, and we may not understand what is going on, and we may even believe that people have power over us which God can do nothing about. I felt that way in my younger years, at times. For we may know and believe that the call of God is on our lives and so we may wonder why these things keep happening to us.

But then the Lord tells us to “put out into the deep,” and to step out even further by faith in him than we ever did before. And then we can refuse him, or we can respond as Simon Peter did. Even though we don’t see how this is going to work, we choose to trust the Lord and to step out in faith and to go where he sends us and to do and to say what he calls us to do and to say, according to his word, and according to his will and purpose.

And even there we may not see immediate results, like the fishermen did, but again, that doesn’t mean it isn’t taking place. For example we may share on here what God gives us to share, and then what we share may go to people across the globe, but we can’t physically see with our eyes how God is using it in other people’s lives. But our inability to see it doesn’t mean it isn’t taking place. So we walk by faith and not by sight.

So, what I know from experience is that we can’t judge how something is working just by what we can see with our physical eyes. Just because it seems impossible doesn’t mean it is impossible. And just because we face opposition doesn’t mean we are on the wrong path. It could be a strong indicator that we are on the right path. So, if God has called you, and you are obeying him, trust him with the results. And don’t fear even if it looks like you will never catch those “fish.” Just keep believing God.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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