Luke 5:4-11A Strong Resolve
In the summer of 87 my grandfather decided to add to our farm. He spent months building a small stable and fencing in a corral. One summer night he brought home a beautiful horse named Annie and decided she should start training right away. Since I lived next door, I was the lucky contestant. His first equine trainee. He knew very little about training a horse and I knew even less about riding one. But I had all the faith in the world in my Grandpa so I skipped down the hill in my plastic flip flops; perfectly practical footwear for the occasion. I remember being quite leary of a horse fresh off the trailer but surely a rookie equestrian trainer knew what he was doing, right? With one swift boost I was in the saddle and Annie was out of her comfort zone. We slowly started out around the front stretch of the corral and Grandpa slowly put a little more slack in her rope. Too soon if you ask me, but I was 7 so what did I know? As we approached turn one, Annie decided our relationship wasn’t working out for her so she stood on her hind legs and dumped me into the fence. My grandmother came rushing to my aid, checking me over for bruises and broken bones, lovingly wiping the tears from my dusty face. Just as the feeling of safety once again returned, I heard the voice of my grandfather saying “She’s alright”. I was hoping he meant Annie. Wrong. He meant me. With one swift boost I was back in the saddle. He looked us both square in the eyes and said “do it again”. Once again we were slowly on our way into turn two. As we approached the back stretch, Annie made it clear she was only into short term relationships, as she once again left me crying in the dirt. “Surely we’ll call it a day”, I thought. “We can try again tomorrow when Annie is more comfortable and I’m more confident.” Wrong. With a strong resolve I heard his voice over and over say “do it again”. And that I did. By the end of the summer I had learned to ride and Annie had overcome her fear of commitment. We rode over and over again until we had the skills to leave the corral and roam the open fields on warm summer nights.
Fast forward a few years later, my childhood best friend Liana and I went off to summer camp together. One of the optional activities was horseback riding. There was a barrel racing competition (yes, it’s a real sport). Naturally I wanted to know who the fastest horse in the stable was; because the only way for me to win anything involving speed would be with the advantage of a horse with much faster legs than mine. Our camp counselor pointed to the horse at the end of the stable. “That one, but he rides western”. A riding style that steers the horse with both reigns in one hand. Well low and behold, that was the only way I knew how to ride because that’s the way my grandfather, the rookie horse trainer, had taught me. He said that’s how real cowboys ride. Real cowboys – like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. With one swift boost I was in the saddle and we went flying around a few barrels. In my mind I could hear his voice saying “do it again”. When they handed me that red ribbon at the end, I hoisted it in the air like Earnhardt Sr. hoisting the Winston Cup. The real lesson my granddaddy taught me in the summer of ’87 wasn’t how to ride, it was that quitting wasn’t an option. Do it again.
A Solid Command
In Luke chapter 5 Jesus commands Simon to go out and let his net down again. See, when Jesus first ran into Simon, he was packing up his discouragement into his tackle box and tying his boat to the dock of defeat. It hadn’t been a fruitful day on the water – no fish in sight. Simon’s response was filled with exhaustion and hesitation. “How many times do I have to try here?” It seemed repetitive and fruitless. But Jesus’ command came with a strong resolve, “Again. You have to do it again.” This time, when he let down his net, it was filled with an abundance of fish. Not just what he needed, more than he could contain. Jesus wasn’t teaching Simon how to fish, He was teaching him how to have faith. When Simon realizes the magnitude of the moment he fell to his knees. He recognized his inadequacy was no match for God’s abundance. Later in verse 11 Jesus says “from now on you’ll fish for people.” The thing with people is that they will reject the truth again and again. He was looking for a fisherman who would trust again and again. He wasn’t looking for a man of skill, but one of obedience. Simon’s struggle was part of God’s strategy. Quitting is not an option in the Kingdom.
Jesus took it from fishing to forgiveness in Matthew 18 when Peter asked Jesus a legitimate question, one many of us have asked many times; “Lord, how many times do I have to forgive? Seven?” After all, the rule is shame on you if you fool me once, but shame on me if you fool me twice. Right? But Jesus’ response came with strong resolve, “no, not seven, seventy times seven.” (Insert shocked emoji here). If you’ve come to the conclusion that you’re off the hook after forgiving someone 490 times, you’ve missed the point entirely. It wasn’t about solving an equation it was about setting a standard. Forget about the number, Peter, do it as many times as it takes. Just do it again. You don’t want to start counting how many offences you have to forgive unless you’re prepared to hear how many Christ forgave you for. (Bring back the surprised face emoji). Jesus used Peter to set a standard for forgiving the pain and persecution that was to come, because people are messy and quitting isn’t an option.
“But you don’t know what that person has done to me.” You’re right. But I do know what Christ has done for you.
God’s commands are intended to deepen your faith, not your fears – where do you need to trust?
An abundant harvest comes on the heels of consistent obedience – where do you need to obey?
Our struggle is part of God’s strategy – where do you need to do it again?
Dust yourself off. Get back in the saddle. Do it again.
© Vanessa Donnan and Walk by Faith, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vanessa Donnan and Walk by Faith with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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