A Firm Footing to Beat Storms
ICS Daily Devotions
Luke 5:3-5 (NKJV). Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
We are blessed to journey with the Lord daily. He is the best coach, guide, helper, and strategist, and He is interested to guide us through every twist and turn in life. When we are facing a fork road of our lives, we need a firm footing to help us move forward with confidence.
One good thing that this COVID crisis has brought about is bringing Christians back to the basic of walking by faith. Our best planning and strategizing may yield little results against a tough economy, so what ultimately matters is walking by faith.
It is difficult to anchor our faith amid the perfect storms of life unless we know that we are in the middle of God’s will, which means we need to live out the consecrated life, and what will give us a firm footing is a Word from God.
Nonetheless, we may still face storms even when we are walking in His will. Therefore, we should seek the face of God even if we have sought His face and are walking in His will, so that we can be led by Him continuously to make adjustments, but to do that, it is vital to have a Word from God.
Fishermen normally set off for fishing at night. Therefore, it is both humbling and frustrating to have caught nothing after toiling overnight. It is so for us when business is stagnant, and as professionals we are at our wits end and unable to turn things around despite our experience and expertise.
Jesus instructed them to launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch. It is so comforting to see how Jesus instructed people specifically to do the right thing, and wonderful to witness how they responded to it. Simon Peter obeyed after having heard Jesus’ teaching at the shore, even though he had caught nothing the previous night and it was not the best time for fishing. As a result, he caught a great number of fish.
We should learn from Peter and simply listen and obey. Unfortunately, we even struggle with simple instructions sometimes, thinking that God won’t bother with such minor issues. Instead, we come up with our own plan, follow our agenda and get disappointed when God does not bless it. God is not obliged to endorse our plan especially when He was not even consulted about it! However, if we seek the Lord’s will instead of ours, we can have a firm footing to beat any storm.
Sermon Series: A Firm Footing
