Fishing

One evening, while we were at the beach, I was standing in the surf, watching this man throw his net into the water, over and over again.  He wasn't catching anything, and I wondered what he was trying to catch.  His actions seemed to be in vain.

Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people."  (Kim's paraprase).

The ocean seems very large, and the mission feels much too big for my little net.

One of the times I served on an Emmaus team, one of the team members talked about fishing.  She was a teacher in a public school, and she didn't feel like she could cast her net for every student -- it was too overwhelming, and could possibly result in problems for her, so she prayed that God would show her where to cast her net.  The answer she discerned didn't please her -- she felt led to reach out to the student who was causing the most trouble in her class.  She obeyed God, and tossed the net in this teenager's direction.  It wasn't easy, but her actions did make a transformational difference in the young man's life.

We throw our nets out, reaching not for every person in front of us, but for one person at a time.  I've heard it compared not to fishing with a net, but instead, fishing with a pole.  God will lead the way, if we are willing to follow.

By the way, he man in my picture did catch what he was aiming for.  I later saw him showing his young grandchildren the tiny 2-3 inch fish in his net.  I think he was fishing for memories with his grandchildren.