LEARN TO KEY INTO GOD'S VISION FOR YOU.
TEXT:
"And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." (Luke chapter 5 verses 3 to 5, King James Version).
This story of Peter's encounter with the Lord Jesus is a vivid illustration of how we can limit the Lord and eventually fall short of His vision for us in life. Peter had lent his boat to the Lord Jesus to preach to the people and He wanted to bless him for so doing. He therefore requested of Peter saying, "Let down your nets for a draught" (Luke chapter 5 verse 4).
From the response of Peter, we discover that he did not fully obey the Lord's instruction. Peter's response was, "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." (Luke chapter 5 verse 5). Notice that Peter didn't do exactly as the Lord had asked of him. While the Lord's instruction was to "let down your nets", Peter and his companions were only ready to "let down the net". In other words, while Jesus was asking for all of the available fishing nets to be let down, Peter and his companions were ready to lay down just one net.
The result was that the one net that they let down wasn't able to handle the multitude of fishes that the Lord Jesus sent to him. The net, the Bible says, began to break.
"And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake." (Luke chapter 5 verse 6)
Although this was the biggest catch of Peter's life as a fisherman, the point is that the catch could have been even bigger! In a nutshell, Peter's vision was too small and was a far cry in comparison to what the Lord had in stock for him. Most times, it's so with us. We sometimes miss the beautiful and glorious plan that God has for us in life because we fail to align with His vision for us. Many of us will in heaven come to realize how far fetched we were from God's ultimate goal or vision for us while we were here on earth.
The major reason for this lapse is unbelief. A whole lot of times, we get intimidated by the enormity of God's Word or promises to us. At other times, we consider our low or mean background and rule ourselves unworthy of God's shower of His extravagant and lavish goodness.
Peter, in this case, had relied on his past experience as a fisherman and moreso, he had been at sea fishing all night and had caught nothing. Asking him therefore to let down his nets for a catch was unthinkable and completely absurd. His problem was that he didn't realize that he was under the instructions of the King and Lord of the Universe, with Whom all things are possible.
In the Bible, we have had people that downgraded God's instructions to their chagrin. In 2nd Kings chapter 4 verse 6, the widow in that story could have had more oil had she borrowed more vessels than she had done. Also, in 2nd Kings chapter 13 verses 18 to 19, king Josiah could have completely destroyed the Syrians had he struck the ground with his bow beyond just three times. According to Prophet Elisha, had the king struck five or six times, God would have given him complete and decisive victory over his Syrian enemies.
What's our lesson from all of these? In our dealing with God, let's learn to make plans for big results. God is a big God! Never limit Him with your diminutive, dinky vision that's the result of your low estimate of yourself. Learn to align yourself to His uncommon vision for you and you'll be amazed at how much a success your life would be. Hallelujah!
PRAYER:
Father, show me what You want me to do in life and I promise never to underestimate You, but to always key into Your vision for me, in Jesus' Mighty name.