Outside the Box

Luke 5:4-5 - 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."

These scriptures show how we can second guess the Lord when He speaks to us. Here's Simon Peter, a fisherman and eventual leader of the disciples. He knows his work and knows what he has done all day. Yet Jesus asks him to lower his nets again. Peter can't fathom the idea since he's been out all day and caught zilch. 

Simon argues just a bit but does as he has been instructed. The nets, as later described are miraculously filled with fish, to the point they are about to break and sink the boat. Peter then realizes who this man is, falls to the ground and admits his sinfulness.

But you know what? Jesus didn't ridicule or berate Peter for his actions. He understands we are all sinful and sometimes just need an opportunity to arise in our lives where we see Jesus for who He can be in our lives. 

He calls us to do something. We might doubt we have heard and choose to ignore the call or we hear and know but because we, like Peter, think in terms of our human strength or understanding, balk or argue. We might choose to ignore believing our way makes more sense. There's also the greater plan of listening and, like a little child, trusting God knows what He has told us to do and just do it.

I was coming home from Arizona one night years ago. I was sitting next to a woman also returning to Wisconsin. I asked what she did for a living. She had a sheep farm "up north." So I said, Oh, you're basically a shepherdess. She thought a second and said she guessed you could call her that. Silence came between us as we carried on with whatever we were doing to occupy our time for the rest of the flight. At some point I dug in my bag for a book I had brought along to read. My, oh, my...it didn't even dawn on me what that book was until I pulled it out! A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Philip Keller. What were the chances?

As I sat stunned for a second I heard the words: Give the book to her. I knew these were not my words because that would not have been something I would just automatically do! I looked out the airplane window into the nothingness and blackness of night and thought: You've got to be kidding? And a quiet, gentle response: Give her the book. The silent conversation continued: Well, if You want me to do this, You'll have to open up another line of conversation. The answer? Nope! You're on your own! Just like Him!

Why do we always argue with God? Why do we always want to put Him in a box when, as a woman at the Christian bookstore today said, "...we are the ones who should be in the box." We sometimes think He doesn't know what He's saying! For Pete(r)'s sake!

Where was my confidence? Where was my trust? Doesn't the Lord know what He's asking us to do and would He ask if He didn't think He knew what He was asking was for a very good reason?

So the outcome of the mini argument I had with the Lord? As we began to land I leaned over to the shepherdess next to me! I quietly said, I felt led to give you this book. She looked at the book and didn't know what to say. Then she asked, Are you sure you want to give this to me? Here's where it gets even more interesting. I said, Yes, because when I bought this one at a used bookstore, I bought more than one! Why in the world would I have done that had I not been previously prompted by Someone who is outside the box?! Someone who knows the beginning from the end. Someone who already knew this day was to be lived in our lives.

Now some might say this was coincidence. I don't think any of this is remotely close to coincidence. Do I know if this woman read the book? No. Would I like to know? Yes. Will it ever happen? Probably not in my lifetime. The important thing is I heard God speak and did what He asked, even though, like Peter, I questioned the One True God, the one Who lives outside the box. Thankfully He did not get angry. It was just one more time when I heeded His voice, albeit reluctantly, and did what He asked. If that doesn't give a person a bit more confidence that, one, He chooses to speak to us; two, He wants to use us; and three, He's got a plan whether we understand it or not, then what does? 

Our God is more than outside the box. 

Psalm 118:8-9 - It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.