fishers of men

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Justin, Jazz, and I took a day trip to the beach on Friday and had such a great time. You can tell that we just wanted to get away and do something different because the wind and the drizzling rain all day did not really phase us. We had a lot of fun watching our puppy in the water and enjoying God's beautiful creation. Mostly, we fished all day - hoping to catch something good. Justin had a lot of good catches and we brought home a fair amount of fish to eat!

I did not have the best of luck fishing, however. So I had a lot of time to think as I baited and rebaited my line. This trip came after another week of sharing with young women about a God that I want so desperately for them to worship as their Savior and seeing them walk away without a making a decision that I know about. I haven't gotten frustrated or burned out at my job. Maybe just overwhelmed. There are a lot of lost women and men who are walking around in search of something that I have as a foundation for my life. I am so thankful for my God who has saved me, rescued me, and is daily changing me. I am thankful that people cared enough to tell me again and again about a loving, forgiving Savior who is Jesus Christ. I never want to tire of doing the same.

While we were fishing, the monotony of putting the bait on the hook was not something I enjoyed, but the potential of what I could catch kept me going. God began to teach me a lesson as I continually threw the bait and continued to catch nothing. Not only was I not catching anything, but the fish were taking my bait again and again. This was only teasing me and causing me to think that I had actually caught something. That is truly how it works when sharing our faith. In order to see people saved, there has to be a continual commitment to share again and again about the Savior that has so graciously saved us. We may get glimpses of hope as they listen and ask questions. But even if they walk away, seemingly unchanged, we can know that we must not be discouraged. The potential of what God can do through our faithfulness to repeatedly share the Gospel far outweighs the struggle of sharing truth without obvious results along the way. God knows each and every one of the people that we are sharing with and loves them with a matchless love. We must be faithful to not grow weary in the task to which he has called each of us.

Maybe an obvious analogy, but one I needed to be reminded of in order to have the strength to complete the task God has called me to. What a blessing to be his instrument of change in someone else's life - if only I put my faith in him to fulfill his plans in his timing.

Jazz checking thing out in the Wal-mart parking lot on the way to the beach

She's not too sure about the ocean.

But she loved digging in the sand!

One of Justin's fish!