My letting Jesus meet me in my need. believing the idea of a good God gets perpetually challenged while we must encounter such hardships and pains. Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11 New King James Version

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

5 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, ² and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. ³ Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

⁴ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵ 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.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. ⁷ So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” ¹¹ So when they had brought their boats to land, they ^[a]forsook all and followed Him.

Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Sometimes a desperate need comes upon our lives. Inevitably these times of overwhelming lack make us feel stuck; we don’t have the resources or ability to overcome such need. In these moments, we often retreat, feel far from God.

The idea of a good God gets mightily challenged while we must encounter such hardship and pain. This proves tragic because God has repeatedly promised, and proven time and again exactly how his heart is with the poor and needy.

God, by his nature, sees emptiness and tries to fill it with goodness. Looking upon our broken world and the lives within it, God didn’t stay distant. Despite our sin, he entered the story through Jesus, also called Immanuel, God with us.

He became a man to reach us where we were. John 10:10

Here in Luke 5 we see how Jesus’s closeness transformed lives, performed miracles. With the man dropped through the roof, Christ forgave his sin and healed his body, acknowledged affirmed meeting both spiritual and physical.

Pointedly, he dealt with the spiritual first, the physical coming after. We also have to let him just meet us, invite us into the story.

First, we must realize he’s already near us, and then we must cry out to him, pleading with him to do what he must to do—love us and join, to fill us with his light and life, both redeeming and transforming us and our story with his own.

James 1:2-8 New Living Translation

Faith and Endurance

² Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

⁵ If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. 

Sometimes our responses to a demand or request depends on who is ­asking.

Simon had worked hard all night without catching anything, so going out again and expecting a different result would not have been a likely plan for success.

By the time Jesus asked, Simon’s boat was moored, the nets had been washed.

It was time to call it quits.

So it is easy to imagine Simon brushing Jesus’ request aside.

What could a builder’s son possibly tell a fisherman about fishing?

But this was Jesus asking.

Jesus had been teaching people from the boat while Simon was cleaning his nets. Perhaps Simon had heard something that made him pay full attention.

So when Jesus asked him to put out into deep water and “let down the nets for a catch,” Simon said, “Because you say so, I will.”

As the clock continues to tick away, it can be easy to feel as if we have worked hard all night without catching anything.

For all our efforts we still struggle with the same problems and temptations.

Our boss demands a greater sacrifice of our time, our wife and children give us the same worries, and our neighbors seem no more open to Jesus than when we first befriended them. Even so, we will act right, keep on pushing out our nets.

Jesus has asked us for perseverance.

Sometimes our responses depend on who is doing the asking.

In the Name of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ….

Praying ….

Psalm 27

My Stronghold

Of David.

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
whom should I dread?
² When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army deploys against me,
my heart will not be afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
I will still be confident.

⁴ I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.
⁵ For he will conceal me in his shelter
in the day of adversity;
he will hide me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
⁶ Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷ Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.
⁸ My heart says this about you:
“Seek^[a] his face.”
Lord, I will seek your face.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my helper;
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
¹⁰ Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.

¹¹ Because of my adversaries,
show me your way, Lord,
and lead me on a level path.
¹² Do not give me over to the will of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing violence.

¹³ I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Wait for the Lord.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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