Trust Issues

One of the activities that I enjoy most is hiking, especially climbing some of the mountains nearby. Just outside of town there looms a large mountain called Superstition Mountain. I had some friends that were telling me about a great hike to the top (one of the areas is called Flat Iron). It stands about 4500 ft. They said the hike was a little tough but well worth it.

One cool March morning were set out (about 15 of us) to hike to the top of Flat Iron. Now as we began it was easy enough but as we got to the base I was met with the hike (Straight up the face of the mountain) It was steep, not straight up, but it was like climbing stairs for few thousand feet up.

As we neared the top (with my legs BURNING) I noticed that to make it up to the plateau you needed to scale a 15ft shear rock face. Now I had been hiking for hours and I was too close to quit now, so I found a small crack and worked my way up to the top. The view from the top was spectacular. You could see for miles and miles. It was truly exhilarating.

I guess this is the time of the story that I should let you know that I am deathly afraid of heights. As I stood on top, it hit me that I would have to somehow get down that 15ft cliff to even make it to the trail to get down. There was no way that was going to happen. One of my friends was an experienced hiker and not afraid of heights. He offered to help me get down. He went down the cliff first stopping half way down. He put up his hands and asked me to hold myself out and place my foot in his hands and then I could get down. In other words, I had to place my life in his hands.

To do this I would have to take a blind leap (well hang) off the top to his hand. It was then that I realized that I had trust issues. Now I knew that this guy was a good guy and he wasn’t going to let me get hurt, but that first leap just was a bit much to overcome.

My mind then began to picture me stuck on top of the mountain, by myself all night. How I would be on the news the next day as the helicopter would come to rescue. They would show an embarrassing picture from my high school yearbook as they carried a live shot of my rescue with the caption, “rescue of chicken hiker.” It was too much – I overcame my fear and decided to trust.

This became an important lesson in the value of trust which is: Life is impossible if I do not learn to trust. The fact of the matter is that EVERYTHING in my spiritual life down to the issue of trust. Every success and every struggle finds its root in how well I have trusted in God. It is truly the keystone for life.

There is a story in the Bible of God’s people wondering in the desert wilderness waiting to follow God into His promised land for them. Their leader Moses, was leading them and teaching them to trust God in all things. Unfortunately the people weren’t quite getting the message and they found a way to complain about everything. They complained that they did not have water, so God gave them water. They complained about not having food, so God gave them food. They complained about not seeing God, not having meat to eat, who was in charge, not having the right sunscreen (well maybe not that last one, but they probably would have if they could).

In one instance we find the people once again complaining to their leader Moses that they don’t have enough water. This story is in Numbers 20. What happens next teaches three lessons about what true trust in God is all about.

Lesson #1: True Trust is born out of a reverence for God.

When the people confront Moses and his brother Aaron and complain, they immediately go to God for guidance and perspective.

Numbers 20:6 (ESV) Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,

Moses and Aaron take the first step. When faced with a trial in life, they go to God, the source of their trust. They go in submission (they fell on their faces) meaning that they went not to take their agenda, but to receive God’s.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to want to go first to others (who might agree with me) or even trust my gut, before going to God, sometimes as a last resort. I need to trust Him first and foremost, to go to Him on His terms. For trust to even take legs it needs to begin in the right place and that place is a place of submission to God.

Lesson #2: True Trust often flies in the face of conventional wisdom

Sometimes what God desires us to do or how he desires us to act goes counter to what seems logical. Often it would not be our first response.

Numbers 20:7-8 (ESV) and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."

Certainly just speaking to rock for water does not seem logical. Moses had gotten water from a rock by striking it, but not by speaking to it. Also, why does God keep giving the people what they want, don’t they need to be put straight.

Has God ever asked you to do something, to step out in trust where it just didn’t seem logical? This is often the paradox of following Christ. We die to live, Jesus died to give life, we are to be last to be first. We are to serve to be exalted.

Where is God calling you to trust where it seems to go against conventional wisdom – is it at work where you may have to step on people on your way to the top, but God says be patient. Maybe it’s at home with you spouse or kids. Maybe it’s with your finances where you are tempted to cut a few corners to get ahead.

Listen to God, trust in Him – He is always right, even if it goes against the circumstances you are facing.

The final lesson is the most critical. If we do not get this right, we negate the first two lessons.

Lesson #3: True Trust leads to actions that are God-centered

This is where Moses goes wrong – he takes matters into his own hands and does things the way he wanted to.

Numbers 20:10-11 (ESV) Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Notice that even though God did work, and Moses did well in the first two steps, because he did not follow it through with right actions – he didn’t trust.

Numbers 20:12 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."

You see, trust trusts the means not just the ends. Moses did not trust God to enough for him to obey what God said.

We can go to God and even realize what God wants us to do, but if do not do it, we really never really trusted in the first place. Our actions will always reveal our level of trust that we had. Are we willing to do what is right, what God calls us to do, even when it is not easy or it does not make sense?

What trials are you facing where God calling you to trust?

Making things too complicated

I recently bought my daughter a small sun tent that she could use on the beach. When I got it home and unpacked the contents of the box I picked up the instructions. These instructions were 32 pages long – with illustrations! The tent looked simple enough, it consisted of two poles and the tent nylon. The box advertised that it could be set up in five minutes, but it would take days just to get through the instructions! As I read, I got more and more confused. The instructions were so detailed I could not make heads or tails of them. They had made a simple tent assembly the work of an MIT graduate. I finally got frustrated and figured it out myself.

I don’t know if you can relate to this experience, it can be very frustrating. Sometimes, as followers of Christ, we make our relationship with God much more complicated than it needs to be. This was the situation of the religious leaders of Christ’s time.

The Jewish faith was one filled with thousands of rituals, purity laws and rules. If you don’t believe me, read Leviticus sometime. Anyway, in order to be a good Jew, one that had a good relationship with God, one must live up to the law. In order to police and explain the laws several religious orders were created. Three of the most prominent were the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes.

Matthew’s Gospel tells of an encounter when these groups approached Christ in order to test and possibly trip Him up in His understanding of a good relationship with God. They asked about paying taxes to Caesar, how marriage would work in heaven and what laws are most important to keep. All these issues were confusing enough to make one’s head spin, how could anyone ever make sense of it? Jesus did, let’s look at what He said:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus had taken what they had made so complicated and simply explained what it meant live a right life before God as His child. He did not give any new command or add anything; rather He showed how simple our relationship with God can be.

Many times, followers of Christ make a relationship with God more complicated than it needs to be. It becomes filled with a long list of do’s and don’ts. Getting the most of our Christian life should not be a complicated list of instructions, but a simple relationship with a loving God. We can find maximum fulfillment in our spiritual lives by simplifying our lives in three areas:

Have a simple faith

Jesus spoke a lot about faith. He spoke of a simple, childlike faith. He said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those with this childlike, simple faith. So often we think we need to have a certain kind of faith or it must look like this or that or that it has to be at this super level. Really a childlike, simple faith is one that rests in Christ in all areas. It is unconditional and unwavering. This simple faith is just hanging on to God in all things.

See from a simple perspective

Followers of Christ are renown for complicating what life is all about. Some say that life is all about being perfect in our actions. Others say it is about telling others about Christ. Others say it is about understanding God on an intellectual or experiential level. While these are important, our perspective is much more simple than that. Colossians 1:18, says that in all things Christ may have preeminence (first place). This should be our simple perspective. We should seek to glorify God so that Christ can be lifted up and not us. It means living our life for His benefit and not for ours.

Commit to a simple task

This means that we should live life based on simple faith and that simple perspective. Again, we can complicate our task as Followers of Christ making a long list of approved or unapproved activities and instructions for finding what God wants us to do. It does not need to be that complicated. We can commit to the simple task of glorifying God in all we do. This means that a way we glorify God may be to tell others or live holy lives or seek wisdom and instruction. It can also mean asking ourselves each and everyday, “God how can I glorify you today?”

Another great way to commit to a simple task is in everything we do, asking ourselves if this glorifies God or not. This has a way of simplifying what we do and also weighing what we do against that simple perspective and living out those tasks with that simple faith.

Next time you feel your head spinning because the Christian life seems so complicated. Keep It Simple Silly.

If you want to be a fisherman, be prepared to stink a little

When it comes to fishing I have come to discover an important reality, fish stink. Not only have I discovered this, but I have also discovered that, when I come home from fishing, I stink. This fact has been brought to my attention by my wife when I walk in the door after a trip and give her a hug and a kiss.

I have also noticed that when I am out fishing, up to my elbows in bait and rubbing shoulders with other fishermen on the boat, I really don’t notice that I stink. I don’t notice the smell of dead fish or bait. I don’t notice the smell of cheap cigars or the fact that we fishermen didn’t shower before coming out as we awoke too early to really care. No, what I notice is the fresh ocean air and the smell of freshly cooked fish that will come later that evening. In actuality, I don’t notice the stink because I am immersed in what I love – being a fisherman and when you are catching fish and eating the fresh fish you caught, you really don’t mind it because the reward is worth stinking a little..

In looking at becoming a fisher of men, one who Jesus is shaping to look more like Himself, I have found that one important reality must be present, we must stink a little. Now I do not mean that we need to smell like fish, so please don’t go out and hide sardines in your underwear! What I mean is that we will begin to smell like Jesus and those who He came to seek and save - the lost ones.

This is what Jesus committed himself to and it was actually what was prophesied about him. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 2:18-19)

So here Jesus is making known his mission – to stink a little, to go to those in the world that needed him, the ones who were not the clean ones or even the acceptable ones, he came for those that needed to be made clean.

Jesus came to reach the world, and he was not afraid to get dirty (a little stinky) in his reaching of that world, because the reward of seeing people’s lives transformed and shaped to look more like Him is worth it.

As followers of Jesus we are also called to this, Jesus said in His final commission, to “Go into all the world,” get a little stinky. Are we willing to put ourselves out there as Jesus did? It can be intimidating and the prospect of leaving our safe and sometimes sterile lives and go out into where people need Jesus can be a little scary, especially the prospect that we may stink a little.

So, I would like to share three realities relational to this that hopefully will be an encouragement as we seek to follow Jesus in this way.

First reality,

Stinking is unavoidable

Just like when I go fishing, from the moment I step onto the boat, see the bait in the buckets, and confront the stale smell of fish from the previous day, it becomes obvious that there is no way I am not going to stink a little by the end of the day. I cut and grab bait with my hands, touch and handle bloody, slimy fish and then wipe my hands on my pants or shirt.

In our reaching of our world this holds true as well. We can go to great lengths to keep from getting a little stinky, but in won’t work if we are truly out there. It won’t work because just like a fishing boat, the world is a stinky place.

Jesus was judged as stinky and looked down on by the religious, but in order to reach those who needed reaching, He needed to go to them and meet them where they were, a place that some would say is a little stinky.

Take this as an encouragement, when you seek to reach those who need reaching you will stink, guaranteed, you will place yourself in their world and it may not be comfortable, safe-feeling or look real good from the outside, but these are the ones God has for us to reach.

What opportunities is God placing before you where going may mean you may get stinky? Go in his strength, it will be worth it.

This brings me to a second reality about stinking, not only do we need to know that stinking is unavoidable, but:

Stinking sticks around

Not only can’t I help but to stink as a fisherman, but once I get stinky it is hard to get rid of. I remember when I used to work on the fishing boats in NJ, I used to get pretty stinky. I used to come home and wash my clothes, shower and clean up, but I still found that my cloths still stunk a little and that no amount of hand washing could get rid of the smell completely. I would used bleach on my hands (not a good idea, especially when I would have cuts) and even toothpaste (as I read somewhere), the smell still lasted.

Sometimes, our going into the world to reach people where they are means that we may we have a scent or stigma attached to us, where people who are not actively engaged in this will not understand.

This is ok, even if this is a situation where we are judged, because stinking may be unavoidable and sticks around, but most importantly:

Stinking is a badge of honor

This is our final reality. It is a crucial reality as the first two realities would be pretty unappealing without this last one.

When I go out and I am unavoidably made stinky that sticks with me, I can be encouraged because I realized that if I stink, then I must have been around fish, which means I caught fish and the all of it was worthwhile. I have clothes that are stained with fish stuff and still smell no matter how many times I wash them. I have them, but I have to keep them in my garage because they do smell. One reason I keep them is to remind myself of the days I messed them up. The stinky shirts are like a badge of honor. When I see them I am reminded of the trips I took, the fun I had and fish I caught, they are like trophies (some people like plaques or actual trophies, I collect dirty shirts – go figure!).

It is these reminders that keep me encouraged even in times I am not fishing as they take me back and make me desire to get back out fishing.

In our reaching of our world this holds true as well. These incidents when we get stinking may mean that there are those that may look down on us or think less of us for getting dirty, but this is pleasing to God as reaching people where they are reflects Jesus.

It is worth the unavoidable, long lasting, glorious stink of serving like Jesus.

The Contented Fisherman

Below is an article by Alan Smith that I find quite profound. My hope is that it helps give all of us a simple trust and contentment in our spiritual lives and ministry:

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family.
"You aren't going to catch many fish that way," said the businessman to the fisherman, "you should be working rather than lying on the beach!"

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?" "Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the businessman's answer.
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, "You will make money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman again. The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman's questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said.
"And then what will my reward be?" repeated the fisherman. The businessman was getting angry. "Don't you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!"

It's easy to get caught in the world's trap of working harder.

Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?" The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don't you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the world!"

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I'm doing right now?"

Contentment is a difficult attitude to learn, but so important. It's easy to get caught in the world's trap of working harder and harder to earn more and more, when we may well already have what can provide us with the greatest possible happiness.

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

May you know true contentment today.

Proper preparation prevents perspiration

A friend of mine recently went out on his first shark fishing trip. He loaded up his boat and sped some 40 miles out in the ocean. As he prepared the bait and got the boat into position he suddenly realized that he did not have any hooks. In his haste to get fishing he had left all of his hooks on the front seat of his car. A long and silent boat ride in and back out again followed as the group of fisherman paid the price of not being properly prepared for the day of fishing. The trip ended well as the fisherman caught several sharks and they sped home with a cooler full of fish, but they also learned a valuable lesson to always be prepared.

It is important that we as followers of Christ properly prepare ourselves daily for the battles of life we face. It makes for a long day when we face our world unprepared to stand up to the temptations or even to be ready to bear witness of what Christ has done in our lives.

The truth is that we can never be totally prepared for everything that we may face in a day, but we can prepare ourselves to handle many things that may come our way. I would like to share with you four ways that we can make sure that we are prepared to face the world each day.

Prepare yourself with the proper attitude.

If you enter each day with a proper attitude then you can face whatever comes your way. A great attitude to bring to each day is that of God being each charge and therefore there is hope. Philippians. 4:19 tells us that God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. This means that everything is not always up to us. God can bring hope to any situation because he causes all things to work according to his good for those who love him.

This attitude of hope should be one that anticipates God working throughout your day and through your life. We can persevere in all situations because, as Romans 5 tells us, “perseverance produces hope and hope does not disappoint us.” Entering each day with the attitude of hope will assure that no day will be disappointing.

Prepare yourself with the proper purpose.

Purpose to glorify God and accomplish his purpose. We should seek God’s glory not our own. Often we go through needless stress and struggles because we spend more of our time making sure that we are satisfied and happy rather than seeking God’s honor. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Seeking God’s honor will energize you in your day because you are looking for ways to please him in all that you do. We are here for God, he has great plans for our lives and many things he wants to accomplish through us every day. We need to remember this and keep on his page. Doing things his way rather than ours may bring some surprises to our day as he may have things for us to do or people to speak with that we never imagined.

Prepare yourself with the proper conditioning.

I have heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it gets our body going right. The same can be said for our spiritual life. If we fail to take care of ourselves spiritual we are entering each day weaker and not as able to accomplish what God has for us. If we fail to seek God each day through His word and through prayer we have nothing to offer our world except for our own wisdom, knowledge and counsel. We need to always be ready to share what God has been teaching us and showing us. It is his strength that will keep us going, if we do it on our own we will eventually tire and quit. 2 Timothy 4:2 – “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;”

Prepare yourself with the proper tools.

Make sure that you have the proper tools for accomplishing God’s purposes each day. This takes some forethought. Just as my buddy needed to have the proper tools with him on his fishing trip we need to carefully evaluate what we may need.

We should seek to know how to share our faith. We need to have a personal testimony to share with others. You need to have information ready to share with people so that you can invite them out to church. We cannot prepare ourselves for every situation that we may face, but there are basic things that we can have with us at all times. Get a small Bible that you can keep in your car or purse. Keep tracts handy. Know of some good website where you can get information to help answer questions about Christ. You don’t need all the answers, but you can at least know a place to look for help.

I have been challenged by 1 Peter 3:15 – “but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” Again this doesn’t mean that I need all the answers but I do need to be ready to share Christ with others.

A Fishing Lesson from the Master

They had been fishing all night without catching so much as a guppy. They were tired, frustrated and probably in need of a good shower. As they approached the shore they encountered a crowd listening to a man teach. The man made sense, he spoke in easy to understand ways and he spoke with authority.

When he had finished speaking, he turned to this exhausted group of fisherman and said, "Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish."
The boat’s captain named Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, we'll try again.”

Let’s look at the situation. Here we have a group of professional fisherman. These are men that had fished that body of water everyday for probably their entire lives. They had seen it all. They knew how to catch fish. They had had great days and had learned to accept bad days. They may have thought, “Who does this stranger think he is? He doesn’t fish here all day. Doesn’t he realize that we were just out there fishing all night? When we tell him that there are no fish we mean that there are no fish.”

These fishermen may have thought these things, but there was something about this man that caused them to step out of their own abilities and knowledge and obey him. Look at the result of their obedience…

"And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

Now that sounds like a great time!

Sometimes, when God calls us to obey, it means that we must step out of our comfort zones into the unknown. The first disciples were asked to go back out fishing and try again – even though they had fished all night. They were comfortable in the knowledge that they had fished and tried their best but to know avail. However, Jesus had other plans for them.

This story, taken from Luke 5, speaks of Christ’s first followers, a group of fisherman. They were taught a very important lesson that we, as disciples, should remember – when God calls his followers to obey it is always well worth it.

God may be calling you to obey him in an area where you must step out of your comfort zone. This may be speaking with friends, neighbors or family about Christ or standing up for what is right at work or school. It may even mean going to be a missionary. Whatever God is calling is calling you to do – obey Him, you won’t be disappointed.

We can find strength to step out in obedience to God by remembering two important truths.

TRUTH #1 – If God calls He enables.

We need to trust that God will not call us to do anything that he will not equip us to do. A trust that God knows what he is talking about is key here. Simon obeyed Jesus because he trusted him. He did not know how things were going to work out, but he knew that he should obey because Jesus had asked him to. We need to have this simple faith that says, “I don’t know how things will work out, but because you called me to I will go.”

TRUTH #2 – Faith grows when it is exercised.

Faith needs to be used to be strengthened. When we say that we don’t have enough faith to step out in obedience, we need to step out with whatever faith we have and our faith will grow. The disciples did not have perfect faith in Jesus, but they had enough to obey and go back out fishing. As they returned to shore with a great catch, their faith in Christ was MUCH greater than before. It was so great that they dropped their nets and followed Jesus. Our faith will continue to be strengthened as we see God proving himself as we obey.

The next time you are tired and feeling a little defeated and God asks you to step out in obedience, follow it will be well worth it.

Fishing is more than just catching

I remember the days when I used to work summers on the fishing boats down the shores. Each morning I would welcome fishermen and tourists as they came aboard the boat for a day of deep-sea fishing. As these people waited for the boat to leave the docks, they would often talk with me about fishing. Usually we would discuss how the fishing had been and what was biting. Sometimes these people would look at me and ask, “I know fishing hasn’t been great, but you guarantee that we’ll catch something, right?”

I would, as gently as I could, explain to them that the only guarantee in fishing is that there are no guarantees. I would also tell them that, if every time they went out and caught fish, then they would call it catching rather than fishing. I usually closed by informing them that there is much more to fishing than just catching so they should be ready to enjoy the trip no matter what.

When Christ walked the earth, He spent a lot of time with fishermen. These were men that had been through many fishing experiences and they were seasoned fishermen. They realized the truth that fishing is more than just catching fish.

As Christ walked along the Sea of Galilee one day, he called out to these men, “Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men!” The Bible tells us that these men left their equipment, families and livelihood and followed. These simple men were being called to something more than a fishing trip; they were being called to begin a journey to become all that God wanted them to be. They were being called to become disciples.

We are also called to follow and be made fishers of men. We are on a journey called discipleship. God desires to make us into all that He has made us to be and He will do it if we simply follow Christ.

We can learn a lot about becoming a “Fisher of Men” from fishing. Just as there is more to fishing than catching, there is more to becoming a fisher of men than leading people to Christ. It is about a daily commitment to follow Christ and allow Him grow us to look more like him.

Just as many fishermen miss the joy in fishing by thinking it is merely about catching fish, I think we, as followers of Christ, get too hung up on what we think God needs to do in our spiritual lives, rather than allowing him to work in and through us for his purpose. We often miss out because we put blinders onto what God can and will do. We forget to enjoy the journey, as we merely focus on results.

God desires to teach us a lot about himself, us, and how He works, but we must be flexible enough to put aside our agendas and allow Him to set His.

Here are a few tips to remember in our journey to become Fishers of Men:

Mark 1:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

We are to follow Jesus

When Jesus called these first followers He simply called them to follow. He did not call them to make themselves worthy or do anything to “pull their weight,” rather He called them to follow. Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds because we often make it more difficult. Sometimes we want to go ahead of Jesus and His plans. We do this because tend to get impatient. Other times we drift to the left or right as we follow, wandering off to something that looks or sounds interesting. We tend to do this because we tend to think we know better.

This call to follow means simply trusting Jesus for everything. We are to trust him with our identity, our safety, our present and our future. It is amazing how much easier life gets when we simply follow.

It is the power of God that changes us

This little statement by Jesus to his first followers is huge. He told these fishermen that HE would make them. The work of making us more like Jesus is work of Jesus. It is through his power that change comes to our lives. We place ourselves there by merely following, trusting him fully.

We miss the power to change that comes from Jesus because we tend to want to make ourselves through our own efforts. This hard work to grow is ingrained in our lives from an early age. We earn grades in school, earn acceptance from parents and teachers through right behavior, we work hard and we get ahead. This comes to our spiritual lives through certain accepted practices, Christian disciplines that guarantee growth.

God does not work on this economy. When we trust in his power and work, we begin to see his purpose – to show his power and glory in and through us so that all of creation would worship him.

Becoming a fisher of men is a process

Jesus shared with his first followers that this process of becoming more like him would be just that, a process. In following Jesus we are immediately changed into a new creation, but we are also being transformed to look more like Him. Change in our attitudes, values and actions do not take place over night, but over time in following Jesus. Just as a child grows into a mature adult, Jesus desires to mature us.

We can get impatient and want to grow up faster than we should. We need to remember we will grow at the pace God has for us as we trust and follow Him.

Good Fishing!