Toiled all night.. Launch Out

This week the Lord quickened these verses to me from Luke 5. Some people may feel like they have been toiling hard for the Kingdom in their ministry, especially in evangelism, but the breakthrough has not happened yet.

You may feel weary and discouraged but the word today is “Launch out into the deep and let your nets down again for a catch”. If you have put an aspect of your work or ministry for the Lord down then perhaps the Lord is speaking to you today by His Holy Spirit as he did to Simon Peter. Let your nets down where the Lord shows you.

We may need to step out of our comfort zones as the Lord takes us into different and deeper waters. The Lord may be leading you to a new fishing ground.

Even though the men were weary, they had fished all night, they had already cleaned their nets to be put away, Simon Peter showed faith in Jesus. Peter is saying despite my experiences and what has happened I am going to do what you say. He was immediately obedient. The result was a miraculous catch of fish.

“When He (Jesus) had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”
Luke 5:4-7

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4 responses to “Toiled all night.. Launch Out”

  1. “Let your nets down where the Lord shows you.”

    and

    “We may need to step out of our comfort zones as the Lord takes us into different and deeper waters. The Lord may be leading you to a new fishing ground.

    Peter is saying despite my experiences and what has happened I am going to do what you say. He was immediately obedient.”

    Spot on.

    I totally believe that we should never assume that what we have so far done is what God wishes us to do!

    I volunteered for a single year with the PAIS Project (schools evangelism, in Manchester, now an International organisation).

    At the start of every year they made a point of checking if God wanted them to go on for another year. This was after they had church placements set up fro volunteers, teams set up with offices and a car, volunteers ready to go, money to start off – all in in place.

    They said they didn’t want to assume that, just because they had all the means, that it was God’s will. I’ve met a hear breaking number of people who have assumed a fatalistic approach to this; ‘I have the money, therefore it is God’s will…’

    That teaching from the PAIS Project impacted me MASSIVELY. And I have always tried to mirror that attitude.

    The two quotes I grabbed from your article sum it up beautifully for me: don’t just give up – go back to God, and check we’re doing His work, and not our own.

    So many ministries have been built on the success of the past, rather than the active, ongoing, leading of God: it worked, so let’s do it again. Our fervour to serve God can become such a hindrance to us actually serving God, and doing His will.

    It’s personal, and close to me because we have our new studio set up and moved home, with that need in mind.

    We have plenty of material ready to record too, and I’ve already paid for our website hosting for another year (never gets cheaper does it?!?).

    But I also want to ensure I have peace before fully diving in to what we believe God has called us to do.

    Even the blessing of our new home doesn’t make me assume that, just because God led us only to look at homes that would have space for an extra reception room (where we could fit our studio) isn’t enough for me to assume that what we assumed is His will. We’re making plans, for sure. But that’s all I’ve been doing since moving.

    However. And this is a might big HOWEVER…when we do know what God is asking us to do, and we’re peaceful the plan in front of us is the one He wants us to do, and we’ve prayed, and checked with scripture, and found peace, and checked with others for their counsel – as per your article, let’s be immediately obedient, and confident; the kind of confidence that moves mountains and doesn’t look to the left or the right!!

    Great article! Thank you

    Andy B

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