Be Faithful and Keep on Fishing

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered. He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.  –John 21:4-6 

Hello to all my faithful readers!  I regret not having blog posts for the last two days, but Andrea and I took the weekend off for our annual trip to Hungry Mother Park in Marion, Virginia with our dear friends, Dan and Leslie Smith.  This has been a tradition every 4^th weekend in October for the last 25 years, although the location has varied.  As you will see from the picture below, I didn’t do so well fishing.  This tiny bass, which was around three inches long, was my only catch of the day.  Dan Smith fared far better and caught several bluegills, three of which were large enough to keep.  And they were delicious.  Even though the fish weren’t biting for me, we had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful scenery, visiting with our friends, and just relaxing.  Truly the Lord blessed us.

As I pondered that tiny fish I caught, and my what a laugh we all had about that, I couldn’t help but think about that morning after the resurrection when Jesus called to the disciples from the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  The disciples had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught anything, so the Lord suggested that they cast their nets to the right side of the boat.  When they did that, the catch of fish was so large that they almost could not haul them all in.  It was then that they recognized that Jesus was the one to whom they were speaking. 

 There have been times in my life when, like the disciples, I did not feel that I was accomplishing much.  I kept throwing out my line, but nothing was happening.  And then when I was beginning to get truly discouraged, I felt the presence of the Lord.  “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some."  Just as He said that to the disciples, He communicated that to me.  What the Lord was telling me was to not give up, do not grow discouraged, and keep on fishing.  Discouragement has ever been the enemy of spiritual growth and accomplishment.  That one fish I caught didn’t seem like much, but I did in fact catch something, right?  And even though it was small, it brought joy to me and those with me. 

Christ’s presence in our lives is like that: Faithfulness produces joy, which in turn produces hope, which then proceeds onto the realization that little can be a great amount when God is in it.  Do you think you aren’t being effective in God’s kingdom?  Think again.  Be faithful, and leave the results with the Lord.

Have a blessed day!