The boat comes first

I love the story in the New Testament of when Jesus was teaching a group of people from Simon's boat on the shore, and afterward told Simon to take his boat into deep water. Simon told Him that he and his friends had been fishing all night without catching any fish, but was willing to take the boat back out anyway. Simon and his friends then caught so many fish that their nets broke, and the rest is history. 

I wonder what that boat ride back out to the deep water was like. 

If Simon hadn't taken the boat back out, he would have never been able to witness the miracle. The boat had to come first, without any sign or promise of what would come next; just the simple invitation. 

Sometimes in our lives, we're also invited to do things without clarity about what comes next. It can seem like a head-scratcher, especially if we're invited to go back out and do the same thing that yielded zero results just the night before. But when we faithfully accept the invitation and involve the One who is capable of more than we can ever imagine, miracles happen. 

I'm writing this at a time when I feel invited to bring the boat back out -- not just a little way out, but to the deep water where I've tried fishing before. I'm trusting in His miracles, as I bring Him along. We'll see what comes of it. I am growing in powerful ways through the process, which is a miracle in itself, and I'm grateful for the peace I feel as I move forward.

I don't know the steps or what the result will be. But I do know that the boat comes first, and I'm rowing! Here's to the miracles that lie ahead.

(from the New Testament, Luke 5:1-10)