Into the Deep
“And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them…” Luke 5:1-7
Ever sensed the Spirit of God leading you to do something seemingly impossible? Ever felt God was leading you to launch out into the deep of something by faith despite the fact everything in your experience thus far proved going into the deep would be pointless and fruitless? Have you ever wondered how you would find the strength and faith to take the plunge, so to speak, when everything in your human mind cried, This is ridiculous! This will never work! I will be a fool to do this! It’s too big a risk!? Ever found that no matter how much you wanted to refuse to budge an inch, let alone to take a great big step of faith, that you sensed the Spirit of God just wouldn’t leave you alone until you made the move?
The fishermen had caught nothing all night, but Simon Peter launched into the deep of the water in obedience to Jesus. The result was amazing. They caught so many fish they needed help bringing them in. How did he muster up the faith, courage, and strength to launch out when he and the others must have thought the idea of it crazy? Back up to the beginning.
The crowd was PRESSING IN to Jesus to hear Him TEACH GOD’S WORD. When Jesus got into Peter’s ship and told him to go out a little ways into the water, and Peter obeyed, Jesus TAUGHT GOD’S WORD. When Jesus finished TEACHING GOD’S WORD, that’s when He told Peter to launch out into the deep. The point? They HEARD THE WORD before they were commanded to go into the deep. Faith comes by HEARING GOD’S WORD (Rom. 10:17), and strength, courage, wisdom, directions, and everything we need to live in the fullness of God’s love and blessings come from God, by His Spirit, through HIS WORD. We need to be diligently, daily, stedfastly spending time at the Lord’s feet, learning and living His Word by the power of His Spirit! Ready to launch out?