Sometimes God lets us come to the end of our resources and energy, and then steps on to the scene and surprises us. This is the story of some weary fishermen who had a big surprise waiting for them.
Luke 5:1-9
1 Now it happened
that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God,
He was standing by the
2 and He saw two
boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them
and were washing their nets.
3 And He got into one
of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the
land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.
4 When He had
finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let
down your nets for a catch." (You
got to love that! The teacher tells the
fisherman how to fish)
5 Simon answered and
said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I
will do as You say and let down the nets." (Notice he says master, not Lord. He calls Jesus EPISTATES, which means
teacher.)
6 When they had done
this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
7 so they signaled to
their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came
and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But
when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go
away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (I don’t deserve it! Of course not - none of us do!)
Now Peter calls Him KURIOS, or Lord. All of a sudden he is seized by the realization that in the boat with him was his very God. Right here where he worked every day. Isn’t it the same way with us? Peter didn’t realize the presence of God in the boat with him. Don’t you remember what Jesus said?
Matthew 28:20
20 … and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Peter and the other fishermen had worked hard all day, and were at the end of their strength. All of a sudden, SURPRISE! They got what they had been searching for with no effort at all.
9 For amazement had
seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had
taken;
When the Lord steps in and does the incredible, He often has an objective in mind that has nothing to do with the substance. Jesus didn’t make them catch the fish just so they could eat or sell them, but so He could teach them a lesson. As the boat filled with fish, their hearts filled with awe! Now they were ready for the revelation.
10 and so also were
James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners
with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be
catching men."
Lesson: If you lay your skepticism aside long enough to lower your nets, God will amaze you with His ability to fill them, and give you more than what you were even looking for.