Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Luke 5:5
“I will do as You say and let down the nets” (v.5).
So easy to say...not so easy to do.  Seems like the first thought that comes to mind when things don't go the way you want them to is to pack it all in, tell yourself it wasn't meant to be and move on.  It can seem like a very tiresome cycle.   A problem presents itself, you try to solve it on your own.  You realize that isn't going to work so you turn to God.  Seems like at times I'm less patient with God than I was trying to do it on my own.  I turn to him in prayer and for some reason expect immediate results.  This is the fine line...something I've always wondered about.  As much as we need to pray for God to give us strength to face the problem...whatever the problem may be, in the end, it's me that needs to fix the problem.  God gives us choice.  Because of his love for us, he wants us to come to him out of our own free will.  We can choose to make the right choice or the wrong one so many times in a single day but that's exactly the point- it's me making the choice.  To deal with a problem, it's me that has to turn things around but it's God's guidance that helps me to make those decisions.  I think this is where things get foggy and I sometimes lose myself in the philosophy of the issue I'm facing.  Where do I draw the line between trying to do it myself and sitting back and letting God do it for me?  It's so easy for me to say to God "why won't you help me with this", "I keep trying and trying but you won't fix it".  Like Luke 5:5 says: we worked hard all night and didn't catch anything....when I say things like why won't you help me, that's the problem, God isn't the partial solution, he is the only answer.  I can't try to do it on my own and expect God to give me a push when I start failing.  I need to give it completely to God.  Yes, it's me that needs to carry out the action but 100% of whatever it is I'm doing has to be for God, with him at the center of my thoughts with constant reflection on what I'm doing and what I have done to be sure I don't lose sight of him for even a second because that is all it takes.  It's so easy to slip down, it's not so easy to climb back up.