Put Out Into the Deep

 “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4

When Jesus instructed Peter to do this, Simon Peter was very tired and despondent from fishing all night without catching anything. But what was Peter’s reaction? He answered, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at Your command I will lower the nets.” He did not make excuses, or get irritated that this man who was not a fisherman was giving him, Simon Peter, a seasoned fisherman, advice! He just obeyed.

Like Simon Peter, who had just been listening to Jesus teaching the crowds from his boat, we need to know who Jesus is in order to trust Him. When times are difficult, and we face challenges we have never encountered before, there is Someone to go to, to talk to, to listen to. We are never alone. That is His promise to us. “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Dt.31:8) 

These may be times that try men’s souls, as the philosopher Thomas Paine wrote in 1776. We are fighting battles left and right with an unseen enemy who seeks to destroy our children, our families, our country, indeed our very souls! Our political leaders are complicit in that they themselves find ways to steal from our coffers our hard earned money. They are even trying to enact laws that will endanger the moral values our society stands on.

We must always remember that challenges and trials are not a detour in our life, it is part of our journey. As Richard Paul Evans said, “Mountains can crush or raise you, depending on which side of the mountain you choose to stand on. All history bears out that the great, those who have changed the world, have all suffered great challenges. And, more times than not it's precisely those challenges that, in God's time, lead to triumph.”

Let us be prepared to put out into the deep water of these trials of today, knowing that with the Lord at our side, we will emerge stronger and victorious.