And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 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. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. Luke 5:-11

Jesus met them in the place of their secular engagement, their work place. It is not clear that they ever met Him before, but they extended hospitality and strange generosity toward this new phenomenon in town; the teacher pulling such a crowd! Was it just fascination or mere resignation to their circumstance of an unproductive, frustrating fruitless workday full of toils? We will never know but both were possible!

Luke 5:1-11 opens a world of unexpected beneficial interventions following muted resistance to instruction. It was resistance based on experiential reality! They were seasoned fishermen, He was just a teacher. What could He know about their trade. They’d never seen Him around plying their trade. Their response betrayed their resistance, “we have done all we know to do” without the normal and familiar outcome.

When it comes to that stand aside, look to the Saviour for His intervention and be ready to follow instruction. Let Jesus step into your boat; your expertise must not stand in the way, for that only demonstrates the pride of earthly logic! When we do the Master’s bidding, as He directs, the miraculous happens! When we are clueless, helpless, thinking there is no way out, that’s the time to be quiet and listen for the Lord’s instruction! We set aside our questions and see the miraculous happen! Prepare for results that are beyond human anticipation.

Yet what happened, the scale of the miracle was sufficient witness to four men, partners and buddies in their trade to know He was no ordinary teacher; what they had seen was enough to persuade them to abandon their way of life and means of livelihood to follow Him, and the result? Their ultimate life purpose, their call was revealed “fear not; from henceforth thou shall catch men.”

His very first word, “Fear not” dealt with the fear in their heart about following Him into the unknown, after all they just saw the proof of His power over the unknown! How long will you tarry in indecision? Selah.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele