If You Say So...

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish."

"Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, we'll try again." (Luke 5:1-5)

It's hard to obey when a command or rule doesn't make any sense to you. That's why I love Simon Peter in this passage. He was a fisherman. He fished for a living... which would lead us to believe that he knew a LOT about fishing: how to catch fish, where the best fishing spots are, the best times to fish.

So imagine what it must have been like to be fishing all night long and not catch a thing. And then, some dude - that you don't even know - has the nerve to tell you to stick your fishing nets back into the water. How easy it would have been to tell this guy to get lost! "You think you know better than me?! You think that I've been goofing off all night?"

But that's not how Simon responds. He simply says, "If you say so, we'll try again."

That's it.

"If you say so, we'll do it."

What a challenge to me, as I try to obey God's Word. So many times I want to ask questions and have everything figured out before I'm even willing to step out in faith.... But that isn't faith. That's taking control. Faith means trusting God, even when we don't understand. Even when life doesn't make sense.

So now this verse is posted above my desk: "If you say so, we'll try again." I only hope that it soon becomes my regular response to God, instead of a simple phrase written down on a notecard...

If You say, "Go", we will go. If You say, "Wait", we will wait.
If You say, "Step out on the water", and they say it can't be done,
we will fix our eyes on You and we will come.
(song lyrics, "If You Say Go")