Cast Your Net One More Time: Day 8

“The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.”- Jim Hightower.

There are outcomes that we desire, goals we want to accomplish, and success we want to reach that lost faith can prevent us from obtaining.  Faith or lack of it can make you or break you.  Depending on where you stand, it can make you spiral into an abyss of hopelessness or elevate your belief to soar like an eagle.  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).  In other words, it’s what you are hoping for and the trust in what you cannot see that should be driving your faith.  Here is the reality, once your hope goes and you begin to only trust what you see, there goes your faith.  Faith is the ability to see beyond what’s in front of you.  In other words, where your physical senses stop, your spiritual senses will see beyond. 

Tommy Kyllonen is his book “Frames” shares, “some people are going through life clueless about their spiritual blindness.  Others had the correct frames on at one time, and eventually, the blinders crept back on. In their hearts, they know something isn’t right, but they won’t go back to the great physician to get an updated prescription.”⁸ In other words, we can conform to what we see in front of us instead of trusting God who is willing to give use spiritual insight into His plan for our lives. Your faith will be shown when you are willing to dive in the ocean trusting the Lord has you.  For example, as a little boy I struggled with learning how to swim.  I remember the anxiety I would feel as we entered the locker room to change into our swim trunks at the Northeast Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia.  My hands would become clammy, and my spirit would be petrified.  I knew I could never go too deep or I would risk the ridicule and embarrassment of not being able to swim.  Our experience of faith can seem that way.  You might say, “God others believe and have herd from you, but I don’t know if I believe you have something for me”.  “I have been waiting for my marriage to be restored, for healing to take place, for my children to serve you, for a special relationship to happen, but when oh God,” sighs your heart.   Maybe you feel that God’s miracles are not for you because you can’t swim in this crazy world right now?  You are battered and bruised and every time you take a step to go into the water, paralysis hits. 

Here’s where the miracle takes place; on the last day of camp the lifeguard who had been trying to help me lose my fear of swimming approached me.  I remember him sharing, “Ben you have what it takes; I have been watching you and it’s time you let go of the board”, he shared with confidence and authority. He went on to say, “Better yet, I will be here for you. Let go and I promise I will keep you safe.  Swim to my open arms just a couple of feet away and I will catch you,’’ he expressed with kindness.  I went in the water and I kept my eyes on his hands.  “That’s it,” he would say as I felt courage to believe I could swim.  “Keep coming, I got you,” echoing through the pool area.  What I didn’t realize is that he kept shifting his feet moving backwards and every time I came close, he would move again.  “Keep going, you got this,” he pleaded with such enthusiasm.  As I took my last breath in panic because of the exhaustion, I felt his arms grab me and pull me up.  “You did it! You did it! Look behind you.”, he screamed in excitement.  I couldn’t believe it, I had swum the entire pool and never realized how far I had gone. I could even hear my friends cheering me on as If I had won a gold medal. Perhaps what you feel is the lack of faith as God is shifting His feet with open arms encouraging you to keep swimming, He’s got you!  Keep swimming your marriage is being restored; keep swimming your healing is on the other side of the pool.  Keep swimming and don’t lose faith because once you feel yourself going under God will pull you up and say, “you did it! Look how far you have come.”    

The story of Peter fishing will provide the key steps to preserve your faith as he displayed the fight for his.  Though it may seem just like a simple fishing trip, it will unlock layers of how faith can be won or lost.  “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.^a] It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus^b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing” (John 21:1-3).  All night Peter drew back and forth casting his net just to receive….you guessed it, nothing.  Imagine how he must have felt during the process of fishing.  He could have thought, “what a waste of time, I even let my friends down.”  Perhaps he was frustrated by hearing the doubting friends saying, “let’s go back to shore; we will never catch anything.”  You may be feeling the same way, the thoughts of discouragement are amplified while your faith diminishes.  Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “I will never change, or I will never accomplish what I set out do?”  Please don’t lose faith and continue to keep hope alive because the dawn will come. 

As the dawn approached, Peter found his miracle.  The man on the beach which he didn’t recognize was Jesus.  He challenged him to cast his net one more time.  Peter listened to the Master and caught so many fish that his boat almost capsized.  What I am trying to convey is, just one more stroke in the pool; you are so close; just one more casting of your net; just one more drop of the lure with your fishing rod and you will watch your miracle appear.  Just one more try!  I believe it’s not up to us to ask how long we must wait until our prayers are answered.  I believe a better statement to make is, “I chose to believe and wait on my miracle today”, and when the dawn rises say, “Lord, you will give me the faith to keep swimming just one more day.”  Your miracle is on the other side, so please keep swimming to your Heavenly Father’s open arms.  Deuteronomy 33:27 reminds us, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”   

Dive Deeper: 

• What miracle are you still waiting for that you have slowly been losing your faith?
• What steps do you have to take to dive in again and swim towards your miracle
• Who are you willing to be the life guard to call today and challenge them in love to believe just one more for their miracle?