Hannatou teaching in devotions.
Last week, our Spiritual Director Hannatou shared about the miracles of Jesus in our morning devotions. She spoke about the encounter between Jesus and Simon (Peter) in Luke 5, focusing especially on faith and obedience, and it was really encouraging. Simon had been out all night fishing, as he probably did most nights, since he was a fisherman. He came back to shore in the morning, physically exhausted, but also discouraged, because even though he had been out all night, he hadn’t caught anything. Then Jesus came to him, and told him to go out and try again. “Cast your nets into the deep.”
You can almost picture Simon rolling his eyes – who was this stranger, telling him how to do his job. He was a fisherman, he knew how to catch fish, and he knew that what Jesus wanted him to do wouldn’t work. He had just spent all night trying to catch fish, and there were none to be caught, and anyway, who in their right mind would go out fishing in the hot sun?
Simon knew that it wouldn’t work, but for some reason, he did it anyway. He knew it wouldn’t work, but he heard the voice of Jesus and for some reason he decided to obey. He went out and he cast his nets, and there were so many fish that the nets started to break!
This is a story that we can all relate to. Sometimes in our work, in our relationships with others, or just in life, we feel like we are coming up empty. We are putting in the effort, but not seeing any results. When we are in that type of situation, if God calls us to cast our nets, we might be tempted to say no. We are too tired and worn out and unappreciated and we just can’t and we don’t feel like it and we shouldn’t have to put up with this and why should we try anyway when we know it isn’t going to work. We know it isn’t going to work. We are 100% sure…
Cast your nets.
God will surprise you.
joshjulieblog 