Luke 5:5-6
But 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. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
Now Simon a veteran fisherman had just returned after an unsuccessful night of fishing.
His friends and he had labored all night. Completely exhausted they have returned to the shore, empty-handed. As they are cleaning their nets, the Lord passes by and asks to use their boat. Jesus gets into the boat and begins to teach the vast multitude on the shore, who had gathered to hear Him. Remember, Peter is still extremely tired, but He allows the Master to use his boat. Have you noticed, often, when we are tired and feel we just can’t go another step, we are called to serve?
After He finished teaching, Jesus tells Simon to cast his nets into the deep. Simon had a choice to make. His years of fishing experience told him, there was absolutely no point in going back and casting his nets again when they had tried all night. On the other hand, here was this rapidly becoming famous Rabbi, who comes to him and asks him to cast his nets again. Should he trust Jesus or his own experience? Simon chooses to trust Jesus. He acts on what the Lord Jesus asked him to do.
Faith means action. Only when Simon acts on what the Lord asks him to do, does he receive the blessing. Faith means trusting when all your logic, experience, or know-how tells you otherwise. Simon would have been completely justified if he refused or gave some excuse to avoid doing something that could seem ridiculous to him and his years of experience. But he chooses to go against his own instincts and to trust Jesus. And Peter ends up with such a huge catch of fish, that he needs his partners in the nearby boat to help him haul it in.
Simon Peter’s encounter with Jesus gives him more than just the physical haul of fish. He meets the Lord. Peter realizes he has just met someone who is way more than a new Rabbi on the block. He has just met Christ, the Holy One of God. And that brings him to his knees in a conviction of his own sinfulness. He responds by saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! (Luke 5:8). Meeting and walking with the Lord reveals His holiness and our own sinfulness.
Are we trusting the Lord even when the oceans rise? Would you cry out – Master the Tempest is Raging? Are you willing to allow Him to use you to be a blessing even when you are exhausted? As you walk with the Lord how are you responding to His holiness and your own sinfulness?
Lord help me trust you and be willing to be used by you.
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