Filling Ourselves With the Familiar - Encouragement Café - May 11, 2016

Filling Ourselves With The Familiar by Michele S. Lazurek

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.  “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.”  So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  John 21:1-3 NIV

I’ve always been fascinated by this passage of Scripture.  The disciples just received word that Jesus has died and he has been placed in the tomb.  Three days later, He rises and appears to them in the place where they are hiding out because they live in fear of the Jewish leaders.  They are so afraid they think He is a ghost!  

Once they realize it is truly Him, they are overjoyed.  Then He leaves, and they are stuck waiting to see what to do next.  

I can imagine how confused the disciples were.  So, what do they do while they wait?  They go fishing.

What?

My husband is a huge fan of fishing, but I can’t imagine that He would go fishing after a miraculous event such as Jesus appearing to Him.  Yet, the disciples go back to doing what they know to do because they don’t know what else to do while they waiting.

So often we jump ahead of God and go back to what’s familiar or comfortable simply because it’s all we know.  The disciples, confused by what they should next, went back to doing what they knew how to do: fishing.  How often do we go back to our habits simply because we don’t know what else to do?

Instead of filling our time with the familiar, we can pray and ask God to put people and circumstances in our path so we can serve the Lord while we are waiting for that next career or relationship or event to occur.  God is always speaking, we just have to patient and aware enough to discern what He’s saying.

Lord, help us to discern what we should do while we are waiting on You.  Amen.

© 2016 by Michelle S. Lazurek.  All rights reserved.

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