Letting Down My Net

                             

Trust. Its such an elusive thing. Every time I think I know what it means I realize it goes deeper then I thought. Life has been teaching me to trust but right now I am being faced with a decision that is asking me to trust farther then I have before. Last night I read the devotional in Beside the Still Waters and was blown away to realize that it was talking about the very thing I was struggling with. Here is my paraphrase to what it said.

   Peter and James were fishing all night. They let their nets down in faith and drew them up empty. As they were washing out their nets in the morning a man asked them to push out from the land a bit with him in their boat so he could teach the people on the shore. When he was done speaking, he said to them, cast your nets in the water. They weren’t too sure about this man. They were the fishermen. Who did He think He was telling them what to do. But they did. And their nets were so filled that they began to break and called for their friends to help. And the boats threatened to sink, there were so many fish.

  Fast-forward to after Christs crucifixion. The disciples decided to go fishing. Once again, they fish and catch nothing. Then a Man comes and tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the ship. And their nets were full. They realized who was speaking to them and Peter swam to the shore and the others followed in the boat, dragging the net after them. And though the net was full of fish, 153 great fish the Bible says, it did not break.

  So what parallels are there to my life?

 They cast their nets on the other side. Sometimes we think we know where our path should go but God asks us to cast our nets a different direction. Do I trust him enough to cast my net? What if it breaks? What if it gets tangled on rocks?

  Do I trust Him enough to cast the whole net out fully? Or do I just dangle a bit over the side to see what might float in?

  Do I trust that He can strengthen my net when He gives me many fishes? And that, though I feel like my boat might sink, He is in control.

  Do I trust God to guide every aspect of my life? I look around and see people hurting. People that are serving God. Can I trust God with everything? Everything? My health? What if I have some painful disease? My children? What if one of them suffers terribly? My possessions? (And this is the one I am facing right now) Of course! Treasures in heaven and not on earth. I am not materialistic!

  But when I realize God is asking me to give up not only home comforts, family, and friends to serve in Ghana, but my home itself (and most things in it) I want to hang on and shout no! Then we have nothing to come back to. No anchor to remind us where we came from. What if we drift? We like our house! I thought I would live here till I am old and grey.

  But then I read this devotional and am hit with the realization, I am scared to let out my net! I am scared to just let my net down and trust God to fill it when the time is right. He can strengthen my net to hold all He has to give. And He can even keep my boat afloat when it threatens to sink.