Nevertheless, at Your Word

Luke 5:4-11 NKJV

When Jesus had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5But 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.” 6And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7So 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. 

8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

Have you ever faced a circumstance in your life that you thought was beyond hope? You tried hard to make it work, but it kept failing? And perhaps you gave up all hope that it would ever work? But then the Lord encouraged you to try again? And so you listened to his counsel? And then it all came together? I have done that many times, including this morning. I think I made more than one attempt to write a second devotion, but I felt overwhelmed. I was tired, and I wanted to sleep, but that wasn’t working. And I didn’t believe my mind was alert enough to take it all in. But then…

The Lord put a song in my head, and it kept playing over and over in my mind, so I finally looked up the lyrics. It is from an old musical. And I believe the storm referenced in it had to do with someone dying. The song, evidently, is often requested for funerals. But this doesn’t have to be about death, although it could be. And the storm can be something rather simple, like mine this morning, to something more tragic, to anything in between. We face all kinds of storms in this life that we must overcome by the grace of God and in the power of God as we listen to our Lord and to his counsel.

Sometimes I think we stall things, or we hold up things from happening that need to happen when they do, because of our own limitations we set on ourselves, or because we are tired and our brains aren’t working very well, and so we give up. But if God is in it, he will supply what we need. He can even make 2 hours of sleep feel like a whole night of sleep. Or he can keep us up all day and all night and us still function like we had enough sleep if he has a purpose for it, because there is something he wants us to do at a particular time that won’t be the same if we put it off to another time.

Therefore, even though we may feel ill equipped to do what we sense the Lord is calling us to do at a particular time, because we have already made attempts at it that didn’t work for us, we should listen to that quiet voice speaking to us in our minds and hearts, and we should do what we believe he is leading us to do, even if our emotions are not there, and even if we feel as though we are not ready for this. For the devil is going to try to discourage us and to get us to give up trying just because it didn’t work the first or second time. But we must listen to the Lord and trust him to provide.

For our God can do in us and through us what we cannot do in our own flesh, in our own strength and power. He can work miracles in our difficult situations, and in our trials and tribulations, beyond our imaginations. So, even if our circumstances appear hopeless or beyond our comprehension or our ability to do anything to change them, we serve a miracle working God who can do far beyond anything we could ever imagine. And so we need to follow his lead and do what he says and then just watch him work. And that doesn’t mean we will see results immediately, but we may. So we trust him.

The following is the song I spoke of, which is a secular song, so it doesn’t mention the names God or Jesus. But the words encourage us to not give up hope, and to keep moving forward, and to not let the storms of life hold us back and discourage us and keep us from continuing to live life as we ought. We are not to fear hard times or what might happen to us next. We need to keep moving forward in the grace of God, in his power, and strength, and wisdom, and keep trusting him with everything going on in our lives and in the world around us. For he will not leave us or forsake us if we are HIS.

You’ll Never Walk Alone  

By Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers

When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm

There's a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7du-RHGrJrA

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Nevertheless, at Your Word

An Original Work / May 9, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love