Daily Devotion January 29

January 29: Luke 5:4-7

KJV Key Verse: Luke 5:5
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

Devotion:
What would you do if you had just been working all night and someone turned round to you and asked you to do an extra hour? I think the answers would span anything from a rude response to a simple “yes” but I doubt too many people would be very pleased about being asked to do the extra work! God does not stick to the normal way of doing things because if we just kept on being normal we would not see that God is anything different from a normal person in charge. Instead God chooses His moments where the impact will be felt most of all.

Don’t be surprised if God calls you out in the middle of the night to care for someone. Don’t be surprised if God calls you out to talk to someone who has just shouted at you or even mistreated you. God knows what is best and He knows what has to be done, but He does not expect you to have to go off and do everything alone! God did not expect Adam to look after the Garden of Eden alone. God did not expect Noah to rebuild the world alone. Christ did not expect Simon to land all these fish alone.

But in many of these cases God does not give explicit instructions for us to team up with others and do something as a team. For Him to be able to convince a team of us together to do the same thing without us sitting down and teaming up first of all is something quite extraordinary. Instead God expects us to take the first steps in faith and then grow into the team that He requires… but it is a team of people willing to do the work!

Jesus did not fill up the boat because they were all hungry and despondent; instead He gave them the means to fill up the boat with the tools they had. God chose the time and He chose the team. People had to come together to work as a team after listening first of all. Listening with faith. Obeying with faith. Doing with obedience.

Points to Ponder:
Will you listen to God?

Will you do what God asks?