Gift of Faith…
And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets” And when they had done this they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break.
Luke 5:4-6
I love that this story doesn’t really have anything to do with fish. This particular story really resonates with me at this point in my life because the Lord has been teaching me a lot about sweet exercise of faith in prayer. It also resonates with me because I’ve been in a season in which I’ve seen the Lord provide a lot of “fish.”
For example, some friends of mine have been trying to have baby for 12 years. They even tried in vitro three times with no success. After having given in to the fact that they probably just weren’t going to have children, I went to their house over Christmas to find out that they are pregnant…and naturally! Amazing!
Another example, since the members of Mosaic are self employed and since Mosaic is a ministry, we have financial seasons of enough and seasons of struggle. I handle a lot of the business stuff for Mosaic and so it’s easier for me to wrestle with worry over finances. But just when I’m sure we aren’t going to make what we need be being obedient in going to this gig or that…the Lord provides “fish.”
I resonate with the response of Peter:
But when Simon Peter saw [the fish], he fell down at Jesus’ feet saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish…
Luke 5:8
You see, Jesus wasn’t just giving Peter fish, Jesus was giving Peter faith. This gift is so much greater than all the fish in the sea. The riches of faith in Christ are so great that when we receive faith it causes us to count all that we were seeking (aka the fish) as nothing in comparison. That is why by the time we reach verse 11 we see that as soon as they brought their boats to land the fisherman “left everything and followed Him.” What happened to the fish?! Fish wasn’t the gift…they had received something far greater.
While I’m thankful for the “fish,” I can honestly say that I’m even more thankful for the faith that Jesus has been building within me. What an awesome relational gift to see our Father give and provide! Faith is one of the greatest and sweetest gifts. Thank you Lord for giving us faith!
