At Your Word, I Will…

Read Time: 5-6 Minutes

Anchor Scripture

Luke 5:5 (NKJV)

“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.”

Sometimes it can feel like you’ve tried every option and knocked on every door yet you still have not found the answers, directions, or blessings from God you’ve been toiling and believing for. Everything in you might want to give up and call it quits, but be encouraged that just one encounter and one word from God can change everything.

In the account in Luke 5, we see an interaction between Jesus and Simon (Peter), a skilled fisherman, where the Lord instructs him to “launch into the deep and let down your nets for a catch,” (verse 4). At this point, Simon and the others have spent a great deal of time and energy toiling all night waiting for a catch of fish, and still wound up with nothing. I’m sure they were exhausted and despondent. It’s likely the last thing they want to hear is “hey, try this!” especially after all their efforts. However, Simon’s response was not one of apathy, skepticism, or flat out denial; instead He responded in humility, trusting the wisdom of the Lord. I believe there are great principles we can learn from his response:

1) Be honest with the Lord: Simon was honest. He didn’t disregard his experience. He stated the reality of His situation, saying: “Lord, we’ve worked so hard and still caught nothing,” but he didn’t stop there.

2) Be open and willing to obey: Notice Simon called Jesus, “Master.” As Believers, we have different kinds of relationships with God such as Father/Child, Bride/Groom, Shepherd/Sheep, and so on. One of those major relationships is also Master/Servant. As servants of the Lord, if we really believe Jesus is Lord, meaning we have given over all our rights to Him as His purchased possession (See Eph 1:14, 1 Cor 6:20, Acts 20:28), we ought to be obedient to His instruction. Simon was open to what Jesus had to say and chose to yield to His instruction even in his exhaustion. Simon trusted in His word, even before He truly knew He was the Son of God. How much more should we, knowing who He is, having Christ been revealed to us, trust in His word and instruction and show that trust through our obedience?

3) Practice timely obedience: Simon replied to Jesus, “at Your word, I will…” What a powerful statement. What he was expressing was: We tried everything we could in our expertise, wisdom, power, strength, ability, etc., but since YOU said it, I’ll do it [right now]. He didn’t say he’ll try tomorrow. He didn’t say “Actually Jesus, I’m a fisherman. I know what I’m doing; that’s not going to work.” Instead, he heard the instruction of the Lord and responded to it immediately. Simon’s situation called for rapid, split-second, in-the-moment obedience. It makes me wonder, what would have happened if he delayed? What would have happened if he rejected this directive from Jesus? One thing I can guess is that Simon and the others would have missed out on a major blessing and more importantly, the miracle of seeing who Jesus really is, at least in that moment (See Luke 5:8-11). Our obedience to God’s instruction, including the timeliness of our obedience, influences the outcomes on the other side of the instruction.

4) God is good and only does good (Psalm 119:68): God will never instruct you to do something that will harm you. God will never ask you to do something that He does not have a good purpose for. When He asked Simon to launch out into the deep and try something new, He wasn’t talking just to talk. He was directing Him to the blessing. When we understand that God’s nature is good, loving, kind, gracious, merciful, and generous, we will understand that whatever He instructs us to do will always be for something ultimately good. Though we may not always see or understand it immediately, God wants to bless us and others through our obedience to Him (See Psalm 5:12, Proverbs 10:22, Deuteronomy 28).

5) One encounter with God can change everything: For many of you, this is probably a testament to how you got saved—through a powerful experience with God. For Simon, what happened in his obedience to Jesus’ instruction allowed the power of God to be revealed to him. Before Simon cast the net out into the deep, Jesus was just the Teacher who healed his mother-in-law (See Luke 4:38-39), however after the abundance of fish they caught out of seemingly nowhere, Jesus was now Lord. Luke 5:8 says, "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for i am a sinful man, O Lord!” This experience opened his eyes to see that Jesus was more than just a teacher, healer, preacher, or whatever else one conceptualized Him to be. It was this one encounter that revealed Jesus’ true nature and changed Simon’s life completely. The proof in this is that moments after Simon Peter’s confession Jesus declared He and the others (James, John, and Andrew) would be fishers of men then they docked the boats, forsook everything, and followed Him (See verse Luke 5:10-11, Matthew 4:18-22).

Friends, let us remember that Simon was a fisherman—he knew what he was doing, however his own expertise failed him in this moment. In the same way, there are things in our life that might fail us and keep us from the blessings and calling of God in our life; But God never fails, so put your trust in Him and His word. Just one word from Him, one instruction, one encounter can change the whole trajectory of your life, just like it did these fishermen.

PRAY

Heavenly Father, whatever I am putting my hands and heart to that is futile, reveal it to me. I don't want to toil in futility Lord, I desire to live in the blessing of obedience and alignment with your will. Instruct me and show me the "deep" I need to launch into in this season so that my nets can be overflowing for me and everyone you've called me to bless. Help me to follow you and the true assignment you have for me.

ACT

Out of the 5 principles listed in our devotional, which one stood out to you the most? Journal about how you can incorporate that into your life more.