John 21: Cast the Net on the Right Side

Cast the Net on the Right Side

When we live our lives and do things that are normal to us with work, marriage/dating, school, friendships, etc, we do things based on what we know. We do things the way that we have often done them. That way is sometimes based on the idea of "what can I get out of this." That is not the way God wants you to think.

 

After the resurrection of Jesus, he appeared to the disciples. After he appeared to them, Simon Peter and the other disciples went fishing. This was their work. This was their livelihood. This was how they operated. While out fishing the men were not catching any fish. Jesus called out to them (but they didn't know it was Jesus) from the shore and asked them if they had caught any fish. They answered no and Jesus said "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." They caught so many fish they were not able to haul them all in (John 21:1-8).

 

What does this tell us? When you heed the Lord's direction and guidance the blessing can come in an abundance. They can be so abundant that it can be overwhelming, but not in a bad way. Can you imagine following God's direction and being blessed by what you needed? Following His direction sounds like the magic word...obedience.

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Wednesday Wake Up #9

Service When Stressed

For the last few weeks I have had several stressors in my life and a big one which was a lot of school work. That sense of stress felt very overwhelming. I felt like I wasn't going to get everything finished or tended to. I even had two dreams/nightmares Saturday night that my projects were not completed by the rights dates and were incomplete. Pretty scary stuff. But today I realized, after 80% of the stress was completed, I really had been focusing on myself for a while. I wasn't making time to spend with people. I would have a phone call here or there, but I wasn't making time to sit with people face to face. I also wasn't serving in areas where God has shaped me. I was focusing WAY TOO MUCH on myself. Then Monday night, I went for a drive and passed by a homeless man sitting on a bus stop with what appeared to be all of his belongings. Before I left the house I took a cold water bottle with me. I keep these water bottles with me for the homeless people that I see. I was able to give that homeless man that cold water bottle. He didn't speak much English, but was able to say thank you.

When we serve, it is not out of pressure from others. We serve out of our hearts and souls with our body in alignment with God's will in Christ's name for the benefit of those in need to glorify the Kingdom. Matthew 25:40, Jesus tells us that what we do for the least of his brothers (all people) then it is like doing it for him. We don't serve for photo opportunities or to brag about it on social media, we serve out of love, plain and simple.

By serving in this way, I get to see how something so simple and easy something easy for me can mean so much to someone else. I repeated what I did by giving out two more water bottles last night to another homeless man who resides on a bus stop by my school. I even put the bottles in the freezer for a bit so they would be cool for him when he received them. I do this out of love and their necessity to honor God. The next time you feel stressed, try taking the focus off of yourself and put it onto something else that God could want from you. If you don't know what it is like to know that you have been serving a purpose, I can't explain it, but it is very humbling.

How will you be serving in the future?

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