ICS Daily Devotions
Just Do It! Act in Faith When God Speaks
Luke 5:3-9 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.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; (emphasis added)
Simon Peter could have had two reactions to the Lord’s instructions to launch their nets into the deep. Either continue to stay on the shore or do as the Lord had instructed. At the time, Simon Peter could have rationalised that even in their professional experience, that it would have been better to fish at night. Yet their toil all night brought no results. They had also washed all their nets and were physically tired. He could have been offended by the suggestion to do it differently after toiling all night and rejected the Lord’s instructions in order to stay on the shore to rest. However, he chose not to react in his flesh but instead followed the instructions given by the Lord, which brought him and his friends a great catch of fish, over and beyond their expectations.
Simon Peter had acknowledged Jesus as Master and obeyed his instructions to launch his nets into the deep, even when he thought it was not logical to do it that way. Nevertheless, he acted on what he heard from the Lord. This led to their incredibly huge catch which caused both boats to sink under the weight of fish. Simon Peter knew immediately that it was supernatural and that Jesus had divine powers. He was so moved that he repented of his sinfulness.
When we face difficult or even hopeless circumstances, our ‘wilderness’ so to speak, especially while walking in His will and we don’t know how to proceed, the Lord is able to help us out of our situation. He speaks to us when we pray the prayer of consecration, then we have to act upon what He says to us because that will be the way out of the ‘wilderness’ for us. It does take faith to follow His instructions, more so when it may not make any sense to us. However, if we perceive that we have heard from the Lord, there must be a corresponding action of faith. We will not witness the work of God in our lives unless we step out in faith to believe. For He is our Master and the best coach, guide, helper and strategist that we can ever have in our lives. God can teach and guide us through every twist and turn in difficult and unpredictable situations that we go through, we just have to do what He says when He speaks.
Sermon Series: A Firm Footing
