I don't like boats. At all. And I’ve only been fishing twice in my life. (Cue angry Minnesotans booing in the background) Sorry guys. I know I should be a good Midwestern girl and love all things boating and fishing, but honestly? All I remember was being stuck in a boat all day, bored, watching my unfortunately pale skin burn to a crisp. No thanks. Given these things fall just above snake wrestling on my list of favorite activities, I had to laugh the other day when God used fishing to illustrate an essential process we all learn walking with him: faith. Turns out Jesus didn't pick fishermen for his disciples on accident. Why? Read on...
So if it worked for them, it might just help us, right? Exactly. And (if you’ll humor me with a few shameless fish metaphors) here’s how: # 1. Bait your hook. Fact #1: I’m awful at fishing. Fact #2: I still know that fishing with an empty hook is like trying to make toast with some bread, a magnifying glass and the sun. Fact #1: Many of us want to live a life of faith. Fact #2: Faith, if it’s not expressed through tangible actions, is pretty useless (check James 2:17) Anyone picking up the parallel here? This is the step most of us want to skip. Can’t we all just quit our jobs and roam freely about the world, sharing the love of Jesus with everyone we meet? Well, yes! And absolutely some people are called to this-- please don’t hear me knocking missions or saying wild risks are never God’s calling for our lives! But take a look at the Bible. Before he became Paul, Saul was already a leader known for his ‘zealousness’ when it came to matters of religion. His single-minded passion and position of leadership weren’t brand new traits when he started his ministry to the Gentiles, but skills already developed in his life. If we look further back in the Old Testament, we also see that each of the artisans selected to help with Solomon’s temple were selected because of their prior training and expertise in metal-working, sewing and other crafts. In other words, they had a skill God could work with. It boils down to this: if we want to step out in faith, we can’t skip the process of developing our gifts. It’s not the exciting part. It’s not the part that gets applause. Awkward moments are pretty much a guarantee. But it’s necessary. If you’re artistic, it might be time to buy some paint and canvas. If you like to write, (ok, I'm saying this to myself), it’s a great idea to finish that article or chapter! # 2. Cast your line. So we finally made it through learning how to put that stupid worm on that stupid hook. Nice! Here’s where we take that lovely (skewered?) worm from Step 1 and actually give it to God. Finally, the risk comes in. You start a business, publish a book or get up on stage for the first time. Stepping out in faith is absolutely exhilarating and risky and exciting! But it isn’t totally random. From what I've seen, God often asks people step out in areas they've already committed time, energy or finances. It's pretty comforting to know God values our resources just as much as we do. Disclaimer on this one though: the first time I tried to bait a hook, the worm went sailing through the air as soon as I cast. I hate to say it, but this will probably happen to you too. Not the worm part maybe, but definitely the failure part. This is the critical moment. It’s the moment where every person who saved a nation or sold a famous painting or sang for millions had one thing in common: # 3. Repeat. They grabbed their hook (or paintbrush or microphone), and tried again. I hate to say it, but there will be moments when you leave your line in the water and absolutely nothing happens. When you publish an article or start a group or plan an event and nobody shows up. Those moments are real, and--shocker-- they’re never the moments people write books about. So what then? You reel your line back in and cast again. Does your lack of fish (or low return on your investment or failed company or low blog readership (ha!)) indicate you’re doing something wrong? No. It means you’re learning to fish. Sometimes faith looks like instant success. At least someone, one time, told me that… I think he went on to create Twitter or something. But for the rest of us? Nine times out of ten, faith looks like this: Reeling in an empty line, asking your Father to help you bait the hook one more time, and casting that sucker as far out as you can. And yes! One day catching that elusive walleye. But in the meantime? (Unlike me in that stupid boat so many years ago) It looks like learning to enjoy the ride.
1 Comment
Joice
11/21/2016 07:43:48 pm
Very engaging and awesome content! I like the look and feel of the blog super fine!
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ABOUT...Writer/social worker/(seriously) amateur baker out of Minneapolis, MN. Archives
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