yesterday’s discouragement diminishes in God’s presence. We returned this morning to our simple little church full of really wonderful people who love God and who love us. For lots of reasons – some good, some not – we haven’t been in church much lately. This morning though Kim and I return like the bewildered pilgrims we are – or at least that I am. And though there are times during the service and the sermon when I wonder whether it was worth the trek, that indescribable place inside knows that it was.
Then our pastor’s easy words about the calling of the first disciples from Luke 5:
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
How crazy. The guys are washing their nets. They’ve given up for the day. It is all over. But then Jesus comes along with a crazy proposal – let’s go fishing again. Let’s actually go to deep water. There, with Jesus, there are fish.
Have you, the pastor asked, started washing your nets? Have you given up on whatever it is that presses you?
No, not me. I bring those nets in from time to time and I hang them up and I get out the soap and brush but I haven’t started washing them quite yet. But even if I do, Jesus can still lead me out into deep water where the fish live. I just have to listen and be willing to go.
posted February 18, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I can understand, if in a different way.I developed Juvenile Diabetes in my 40s, probably because of the stress I was going through at the time. Now, at 52, the affects of the diabetes have been rapid and I can feel the difference it is making. I have often thought how it must be like a slow cancer, making one weaker a little each day. I gave myself one day for a pity party but today awoke refreshed. Isn’t it true that His mercies are new every morning? The time I spent yesterday resulted in writing on my own blog…what kind of a legacy am I leaving? For all of us, you have already provided a great legacy…opening our eyes to truth. Thank you.
posted February 18, 2007 at 11:17 pm
I suppose I wonder where my faith life might be if the events of my daughter’s pediatric cancer had not occurred. Would we be superficial people of faith? Life is filled with suffering and we’ve been asking at least since Job – WHY? There is something about experiencing the cross that leads us out of fear and into truth. David, would you have written your book or come to the place where you are without the tumor?. It is not that God gives us these terrible events – it is that God is with us so that we might be tranformed by them. That is the conclusion after ten years of terror in watching my child live a life that was pain filled and that often seemed without future. I do not wish such events for anyone, but when we are transformed by them – we are in my Roman Catholic terms – a sacrament – a visible sign of grace. On the Daily Show last week a young man spoke of his life in Sierra Leone – of watching his parents and siblings killed and then becoming an official killer himself. He talks about his “second life” the one in which he regained his humanity and compassion. His name is Ishmael Beah and he doesn’t talk about God much in his book (I just spent the afternoon reading it and can’t quit tearing up), but I saw God in what happened to him. Somehow, he was given the gift of his humanity back again – a loving and compassionate human being. I suppose such stories are what feed my faith. Only God could take us to such a place.
posted February 19, 2007 at 5:28 am
David, Thanks for being open and honest with us. It’s in that honesty where your witness is the most effective. I will pray for you and your time in the valley. Grace and Peace.