Operation: Obedience

And as promised, He came. 

Not as I’d expected, but He came nonetheless. 

Not with chariots and horses and fire, but with words that soothed souls, hands that brought healing, and a presence you couldn’t stand to be out of. 

As we washed our nets and our boats lay ashore, He approached us from afar. And He taught. 

Just to hear Him speak, was enough. And here, after all this time, after all the prophets, after all the promises. The Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us.

Up until then we had seen and heard of His wonders. How He healed people by just a touch of his hands,  commanded demons to leave a man, about His miraculous baptism and the confirmation of John the Baptist who we’d known to be a man sent from God.  

We toiled greatly all night, doing everything in our power to reel in the catch of the day but it was to no avail…until He commanded us to try again. 

I grabbed the boat’s edge in awe as the overwhelming litter of fish began to sink our boat. I called for help from James and John because the mass was too much for me to gather alone. 

Speechless as we were, He smiled gently at us. 

Follow me, He said. And I will make you fishers of men. 

Taken from Luke 5, Mark 1:16-20 Matthew 4:18-22

If Jesus asked you to follow Him… Would you do it?

Like the disciples, I surrendered to the hand of God through my bout of depression and anxiety. I witnessed his provision first hand and watched Him provide jobs for others and guide friends through the tumultuous waves of college. Yet, I still hesitated when I considered His command.

Six years ago, in the deafening trenches of depression, I found myself laying in bed and received the call from God to become a teacher. In all honesty, I didn’t want to be a teacher. It was a disrespected position and according to my earthly father, teachers didn’t make enough money. However, I accepted the call to teach and soon realized that this was a culmination of who God made me to be. Even though it is dishonored and abused, my love for teaching grew and provided me with humility and patience.

Little did I know, this same career that He called me into was the same one He led me to leave. In the midst of the 2020 pandemic, I was led by God to quit my job.

Questions filled my mind as I contemplated if I heard his voice correctly. What about health insurance? What about rent? Car payments? Food? It didn’t make sense. But He reminded me of his command to those who came before me. He reminded me of His provision back then, and his plans to provide for me now. My biggest test was to trust and obey.

Abraham received a word from God to sacrifice his son Isaac whom He promised a long awaited fatherhood. Noah was commanded to build an ark with no rain in sight. The fishermen were instructed to cast their nets for fish after toiling all night. But just as God provided the ram  in the bush for Abraham and spared Noah and his family when He flooded the earth, He also blessed the fishermen in abundance and called them into ministry as disciples of Jesus and fishers of men. He showed them He could provide, not for Himself, but for them (and us) so that we would trust Him, especially when He asks something great of us.

With hesitation and confidence in God, I chose to trust Him and I walked away from my job.

Just as wise counsel from John the Baptist was enough for some disciples to follow Jesus, He assured me through wise counsel and words from trustworthy resources that his promises for provision reign true. They knew John the Baptist was sent by God and if what he said was true, then this man Jesus is worth following.

I do get stumped with frustration some days as I apply to jobs with no response, but I know that in those moments I forget who He is just as the disciples did along their journey to the promised land. Now having walked with Him for some time, I focus on His Word and meditate on the many miracles he has performed.  Jesus was the same man that fed thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. He almost sunk the boats of the fisherman with his abundant blessing of fish. How could He not provide for me?

The disciples had no idea what it meant to become fishers of men, or that their beloved friend would die to save them. They would have never imagined abandoning Him at His loneliest hour, or that they too would perform miracles and see signs of wonder through Him. They had no idea that they would die for His name, only to behold Him in glory; and yet, they left all that they had and followed Him.

Jesus not only showed them that He could provide, but He made a promise of who they would become. For, it was not in their own goodness that they decided to follow Him, but in obedience, a precious gift from God.

As I wait on God’s timing, I don’t know where we are going, who I will encounter, or what will become of me. What I do know is that this man, of extraordinary birth and selfless death, has chosen me to walk beside Him. In the time that I have walked amongst Him, I have seen Him do miraculous things and this, this too will be greater than me.

So again, I ask you…

If He commanded you to give up your one and only son

or to build an ark with no rain in sight

or to walk on water

or to give up your livelihood and follow Him,

Would you do it?

Would you give up your business to be about His?