“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”
Simon was wearied from a night of fruitless toil, he nonetheless did what the Lord Jesus told him to do: At your word I will let down the nets. When you meet disappointment and failure, do you listen to and respond to the Lord, like Simon, even if you doubt a solution can be attained? "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." Simon Peter went from seeing Jesus as Master to Jesus as Miracle Worker. And as he did so, his disposition became one of repentance and humility. "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." To which Jesus responded, "Do not be afraid..."
This incident tells us an important truth about how God works in and through each of us for his glory. God expects of us greater things than we can do by ourselves. When we cooperate in his works, we accomplish far beyond what we can do on our own. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun who died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four, wrote to a friend: "Jesus has so incomprehensible a love for us that he wills that we have a share with him in the salvation of souls. He wills to do nothing without us. The Creator of the universe awaits the prayer of a poor little soul to save other souls redeemed like it at the price of all his Blood."
(Adapted from Don Schwager)
No comments:
Post a Comment