The Boat...

-->

Have you ever felt like you were wasting time while waiting on God and letting Him use you for His purpose? Use you to reach out to people for Him?

Sometimes I do. Sometimes I want to do more… Sometimes I feel like I’ve stayed still long enough and it’s time to launch out and do MY thing, even though I’m clueless as to what it is. Live wherever I want to. Fall in love with any of the beautiful men that make me laugh… live the good life where everybody knows your name, you’re popular and get to go everywhere you’re invited.

Sometimes it’s crazy…

Sometimes I want to write… and I sit down to put something beautiful down, something witty, because I really am funny or I can write funny… I think.

Sometimes I want to wow your minds with what I can do, but all I end up writing is Jesus! He just finds a way to creep in and I can’t turn Him down. Thus I stay still and let Him flow through me… even as much as I itch to write something else… anything.

Let me tell you a beautiful story. A man named Peter labored and toiled all night, in the peak of the fishing hour and caught nothing. Not his talent or his strength or his going out at the right hour could get him the catch he needed. And just as he gave up for the day, washing away the dirt the net accumulated; Jesus came to him and asked him a favor. He asked to use his boat, his source of livelihood to teach, to reach out to the people and he let him. Peter could have chosen not to, or he could have given an excuse, told Him he was tired from a fruitless labor or anything, but he didn’t. He let Jesus in and from Peter’s boat; Jesus taught the crowd that had gathered. I assume he must have gotten impatient at some point, I’ve always imagined Peter to be this huge, intimidating, impatient man … but with a kind heart.

He must have watched the other fishermen give the sea one more try before retiring, but he couldn’t launch out to attempt one more time because Jesus was using His boat, he wasn’t in control anymore. Maybe he must have felt like I did, like he was wasting time, his heart beating as fast as mine is now…  doing nothing. Just in a boat that was rocking from side to side and moving nowhere… maybe he was tempted to tell Jesus to step out so he could try fishing one more time… just maybe, but he waited, the gentle giant waited, till it was seemingly too late for one more try before retiring for the day, because the sun came out and no one fishes in this season.

source

When Jesus was done, He turned to Peter and asked him to launch out. It was an unusual request…. He would be going against the principles of fishing and the laws of attraction. He toiled all night, and now it was out of season, no one skilled in fishing would dream of fishing at that hour or call fishing at that hour a brave idea because it was stupid, that’s what it was, a waste of time and energy… but he agreed, and he launched out at the instruction of Jesus, and oh mine, what a catch he made. An exceptional extraordinary one, so extraordinary that he couldn’t handle it by himself, he had to call for help… he was an employer of labor. He had an overflow that he had no choice but to involve others.

You see, when Jesus asks to use you, your talent, the work of your hand, your life… as hard as it is, yield yourself… sometimes you’ll be yielded to Him and feel planted, like you’re stagnant, but let Him do what He’s doing through/from your boat. As you stay planted in Him, your roots will go deep, before your fruit eventually shoots up. You watch your mates ‘hustling’ and you’re right there sitting as God uses you. You watch them get married to the tall, dark, handsome wealthy man and there you sit rocking from side to side in the boat. You watch others singing about booties and climbing the charts, but there you are singing wholesome songs, and Jesus songs and staying at the bottom, nowhere close to the charts, not because you’re no good, you’re certainly better than them, but your boat is occupied and you’re only recognized in churches.

Don’t despair, Keep letting him speak through you…. And then one day, He’ll look at you and tell you to launch out. It may be something unconventional, some beat you’ve never heard before, something you’ve never done before, something strange, a strange and weird move in your career, a weird style of writing, a weird clothing design, a weird way, a man you never dreamed you would date, way out of your spec… and oh mine, what a catch you will get, more than enough, that you can’t handle yourself, you will have to call other fisher men, other professionals to help. Your harvest will be such an overflow that nations will come running to you, your marriage will be so blessed that people would use you as a reference point. You can’t let God use you and end up at the bottom. They may laugh when you take a step of faith and launch when He instructs you to, but let them, you’ll know who’s got the last laugh soon enough.

So when I see myself despair… I think of Peter, and I relax in my boat as I watch the master reach out through me. Don’t despair… Keep yielding yourself to be used… Soon, He’ll ask you to launch out and oh my, what a catch… What a catch!

"No Other Choice" by Tye Tribbet is the apt soundtrack to this post. The words of the song paint the perfect picture my words may have been unable to capture.

[Verse 1:]

So many times in life before, I tried and tried to do things my way (hey, hey, hey)

I thought that I was smart enough; I thought I knew enough to (handle my self)

I didn't realize the problem was, the struggle was between my will and Yours

So I'm giving up my will for Yours, I'm totally depending on You (please come through)

[Hook:]

I have no other choice but to trust You

That's all I can do

I have no other choice but to believe

[Verse 2:]

Now when trouble comes my way, I don't cry, I just lift my eyes (to the hills)

'Cause Your word says my help is gonna come, I'm just gon rest in what You say (hey, hey, hey)

[Bridge:]

'Cause I know every word You say is true

And every promise that You made it will come to

So no matter how long it takes

I'll be here still giving praise

Waiting on my change to come