Don't Give Up!

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Luke 5:4-7

About 15 years ago, I landscaped my front yard with drought-resistant plants and trees, and decorative rock. The idea was to have a low-maintenance yard. Over the years, a narrow strip of the yard to the north of my driveway began to be overtaken by some variety of unknown grass. Never mind that I had originally placed heavy landscaping plastic under all of the rock to prevent this from occurring. It was a constant battle to remove the grass, which refused to yield to any tactic I employed, whether spraying it with herbicides or pulling it up by the roots.

Finally, I had enough, and last year I pulled up all of the rock in this section (several tons), and removed all of the old plastic. I then scraped the ground to remove all of the grass and its roots. I then put down new weed barrier fabric, and replaced all of the rock that I had removed. Once again, that section looked as beautiful and pristine as the day I first landscaped it.

For about three months.

And then the grass came back. With a vengeance. Again, I have tried everything short of nuclear warfare to remove it, but it persists. With all of the recent rains, it now looks like I have a lawn with rocks.

As I was looking at this yesterday and shaking my head in disgust, I began to think about the tenacity of that grass. Against all odds, it has not only survived, but thrived. I wondered what our lives would be like if we had that kind of persistent tenacity when we face adversity and setbacks.

How often do we give up on a dream or a goal because there are simply too many obstacles, too many failures, or too many naysayers telling us it will never happen? How often do we give up on our friendships, our romantic relationships, or even our family members because it's just too much work to overcome the struggles, conflict and friction that is inherent in human interactions?

How often do we give up on the Church or God's people because they are so unlike God?

In the passage quoted above from Luke, we find Simon (later called Peter) and his partners discouraged after a fruitless night of fishing, having caught nothing. They had given up hope for a haul, and were prepared to go home empty-handed. But Jesus told them to give it one more try. What would have happened if Simon had refused, "knowing" that it was pointless? If they hadn't caught any fish all night long, when the fish normally are closer to the surface, why would they catch any now, in the heat of the day? But there was something about the way Jesus spoke, perhaps with authority, that made Simon turn around and go back out one more time. I can imagine him muttering under his breath, "This guy doesn't know anything. I can see from his hands and clothes that he's not a fisherman. Probably some carpenter that wouldn't know the difference between a herring and a halibut. I'll humor him just to shut him up."

When the fish started swarming into the nets, I'm sure Simon's tired eyes opened extra wide and his jaw dropped to his chest. It's interesting that they didn't just catch a few fish, but rather took in such an abundance that their boat and that of their back-ups began to sink.

In my experiences throughout my walk with Jesus, I have often found this to be true: If we just hang on a little bit longer and trust the Lord, He will pour out abundant blessings in our lives. When you feel you've given everything you've got, and there's nothing left to hope for, that's the time you need to take a deep breath, remind yourself that it's not over yet, and hold on to what you know is true: God always keeps His promises; He loves you and wants the very best for you; and His timing isn't always our timing.

Hang in there. The best is yet to come!

Have a blessed week!

Pastor David