Cast your nets into the sea....

Hey! I am so sorry for slacking off on my blog. It wasn't designed just for my trip to Africa, and I promise to get better. With the fall starting I'll have a routine and this will be included in my mornings! With that being said, I've starting reading the gospels in order. I had to overcome a bit of pride to realize that I had never done it before, or read all of them in their entirety, but after going on a mission trip I wanted to focus on what Jesus did while he was on earth; and, the best way to do that is to read the accounts from that time. It's been hard because they are all so similar, but today as I was reading Luke the Lord opened my eyes to a particular story.

Luke 5:1-11 is the story of Jesus's first disciples. It's such a cool story and we can all relate to it! Here it is:

^"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."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,and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."

I bolded verses 5 & 6, which really stood out to me. I immediately thought about my preparation to Africa, things that are going on in our own lives, my friends lives, my family members lives, and just something we struggle with all the time... control. We take control and sometimes have a hard time letting God take over, especially when we are at our weakest. For some reason our flesh overwhelms us and we think things like, obviously God had this planned for me, or Why did this happen, or if I can't fix it no one can, or I must really deserve something like this to happen... I think at some point we have all thought that. It's almost our first reaction to things. In the first half of the scripture, Simon says, But I've already tried it didn't work out so well.... But the key is the last part of verse 5. Simon says, "But because YOU say so, I will let down the nets." This is sometimes where I KNOW I lose focus. Lord, I trust in you, you have a plan, but let me keep trying to fix this myself in hopes it will get better, right?!

We have a hard time letting things go because we somehow have been made to feel weak or not worthy, but scripture says otherwise. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says,

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

In Luke, you see Simon cast out his net at Jesus's request, after a full night of fishing, and he pulls up enough fish to almost sink 2 boats! Can you imagine!? This is like my trip to Africa. After 5 months of trying on my own, it wasn't working out. When I finally gave it over to the Lord, to fulfill his perfect timing, my trip was put together in 2 weeks! Can you imagine how the Lord would provide if we just let him? It really is hard going through life trying to provide all of our own needs, but do we actually know what we need, when we need it? The Lord does, no matter what.

In verse 10 Jesus says to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." He had a purpose for using Simon's boat that day, and what an example Simon's faith was used as. James and John were also able to see how the Lord provided and used this situation to call them to be disciples. This would have ended differently if Simon took the approach we all tend to take and postponed trusting in the Lord until he had another shot at fixing it himself.

I want to encourage you today, whatever it is that you are trying to control, give it to God. He will provide your every need. Verse 11 says it best. The men pulled their boats ashore and followed Jesus. Lay down your burdens, trust in the Lord, and follow him...he knows our needs! Praise the Lord!