Trust Me

Being a fisherman isn't always easy. My brother Andrew and I have to get up before the sun rises to get our fishing nets and boats ready. We then spend the whole day casting our nets. We stay out there until the sun sets and then we go home, eat, and then get to sleep waiting for the next day to come. I can't say this is my dream job though, but hey, at least it puts food on the table right?

Today was just one of those days. Our fishing spot in the Lake of Gennesaret was just not the hot spot for fish today. We have been casting our nets all day but yet, not a SINGLE catch. I can see in the distance James and John were not having any luck either. As the sun began to disappear over the horizon, I decided that it wasn't going to get any better. So I told Andrew that we should pack it in and he agreed so we went back to the shore.

We bring our boat to the shore and get out to pull it in. There was a man who I did not recognize standing there for awhile just looking at us. He must have been there for a couple of hours at least. I ask my brother if he knew who he was and he mentioned that it was Jesus. I was shocked at this, I heard so much about this man, especially from John the Baptist. Why would he be in a place like this?

As I was thinking this, he began to walk towards me. What was he doing? Why was he walking towards me? He continued walking past me to my boat and stepped in it. Jesus then asked me to put out a little bit from the shore. I was pretty confused, what was he getting at? But, not wanting to say "no" my brother and I cast out our boat once again. As we were making our way to the fishing spot he indicated, he sat down at the head of the boat and started teaching. I have only heard about his teachings from others but in person... wow... absolutely incredible. His followers, must be the best of the best.

We get to the location in a short period of time and then Jesus tells me to put out into deep water, and let down the nets. Now this confused me even more. I am sure he noticed that we haven't caught anything all day and I mentioned that to him. However, since he was a great man, I did as he said. I let down the nets and waited. Not long after I let down the nets I could feel tugging on the nets. I began to pull them up and to my surprise, they were full of fish! I have never seen so much fish in my life! I pull up the net and throw down another, the same thing! Any nets that I put in the lake were so full of fish. Some of my nets were even starting to break because of the weight. It came to the point that my boat could not handle all of the fish so I called the other boats to help. We continued fishing for hours and hours. The same thing happened to the other boats as it did my boat. The excitement got to all of us. We fished so much that we didn't realize that we exceeded the maximum weight of our boat. We were starting to sink!! We barely made it back to the shore.

I looked at all this fish and I looked at Jesus. I realized that this man, was indeed a holy man. I feel to my knees and bowed in fear because I was a sinner. I asked Jesus to go away from me. I was scared, I didn't know what to say. Was he going to tell me how much of a sinner I am, was he going to turn me into something? I am absolutely terrified right now. All I knew was that I did not deserve to be in his presence. I look to my left and right to see my brother Andrew, James, and John all just staring in amazement. We all seem to be handling this situation in a different way.

Then I feel a hand on my shoulder, I lift my head up and it was Jesus looking straight at me. The smile on his face, his eyes meeting mine, he opens his mouth and begins to speak in a calm inviting voice, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men. Come, follow me." He looked up to Andrew, James, and John and said the same thing to them also. We looked at each other in amazement. Jesus has just called us to be his followers! We are just but meer fisherman but yet, Jesus has called us. A great man. Immediately, we pulled our boats to the shore and left everything.

The unknown, we don't know the where, when, why, and how. We don't know anything. All we are doing is following Jesus. We have placed our full trust in following Jesus, our lives, everything.

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Recently, I have felt like Simon (Peter). I use to be comfortable where I was and I had a plan. However, Jesus then said to me "Come, follow me." To abandon everything, the things you love to do, the people you care about the most. All for the sake of Jesus. To take that step out into the unknown. To just immediately go and follow Jesus and leave everything. I wish I could do that.

I do know one thing that I have done though, and that is to follow Jesus where He takes me. I don't know where that is going to be, or when it is, or how I am going to get there. All I know is that I have to entrust EVERYTHING with Jesus. Letting go of someone you really care about is one of the hardest things to do. But it needs to be done. Especially if Jesus is calling to you to trust Him.

I would like to leave you all with a couple of questions. Do you trust God? Are you prepared to leave everything when he calls you? I hope this has inspired you as much as it has inspired me.

God Bless you all!!

Endless Love

This song is such a beautiful song. I can't understand a word of it but the instant I heard it, I loved it. I feel a great sense of peace when I hear this song.

It's sung by Jackie Chan (Yes, he sings) & Kim Hee Seon. The song is from a movie called "The Myth". If anyone is interested in watching it, I have it at my place. Let me know if you are interested and we can arrange a movie night.

I strongly recommend listening to the song without subtitles first.

Without Subtitles

With Subtitles

Enjoy!

Until

So during certain points in my life, I will hear a song and say to myself "This song speaks to me." I love to use songs as a way to show what I am going through in certain times.

This song has been speaking to me lately. Because of the fact that I always seem to get ahead of myself and not wait for God. It's been a great encouragement for me.

These are the lyrics to a song from Mark Harris. If you get a chance to listen to the song. Please do, it's such a great song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mvVTxpOUJw

Until

Is it unfair to say that You are leading,
Then try and face this mountain on my own,
Why am I scared, I've never stopped believing,
And You never left me alone.
Well, I can get ahead of where you've led me to,
But I will trust Your heart enough to wait for You ...

CHORUS:

Until this mountain moves,
Until the path is clear,
Until Your voice is the only one I can hear.
Until I see Your hand,
Until I know Your heart,
Until I trust the grace that's carried me this far
I will be still, until ...

How could I have never seen this coming,
It's not like I've been running from Your will,
Tell me why each day's another mystery,
Waiting for Your truth to be revealed,
I try to tell my heart to trust what I believe,
And wait on You through all of my uncertainty ...

CHORUS:

Until this mountain moves,
Until the path is clear,
Until Your voice is the only one I can hear.
Until I see Your hand,
Until I know Your heart,
Until I trust the grace that's carried me this far
I will be still, until ...

Bridge:

Be still my heart of worry,
Be still my restless soul,
Be confident and certain,
Be still and know

CHORUS:

Until this mountain moves,
Until the path is clear,
Until Your voice is the only one I can hear.
Until I see Your hand,
Until I know Your heart,
Until I trust the grace that's carried me this far
I will be still, until ...
Oh, I will be still, until

Lyrics from www.lyricsmania.com

The Highway of Life

You've been driving for hours. Staring off in the distance is a neverending stretch of road ahead of you. The inviting warmth of the sun illuminates everything around you and shows God's work at it's best.

As you look furthur ahead though, you see dark clouds in the distance. As you continue driving, the clouds get closer and closer, the sun starts to disappear behind the darkness of the clouds. It all seems to happen so fast. The next thing you know, the sun has disappeared behind the clouds. Everything around you seems to lose it's life. You look out your winshield, and you see this wet spot on there, a few seconds later, another one, and then another one. Before you know it, it's pouring. The feelings of sadness start creeping in. Your no longer enjoying the beauty around you but are frustrated with all the rain. As you continue to drive in the neverending rain, you start feeling lonely and depressed. You say to yourself, "When is this going to stop? When do I get to see the light again?" You pray to God asking Him to show you the light but nothing. Hours pass by and yet no light. You begin to wonder if the light has disappeared forever? "Will I see the light again?"

Just when all hope is lost, just when you feel that you can't take the darkness anymore, you see something in the distance. You look up to the clouds in the distance and you don't see them as darkness, but you see them illuminated. The lonliness and depression you were feeling begins to melt away. The clouds that were once darkness has become the most beautiful site you have ever seen. The clouds are now light.

Shortly after, you see a sign indicating your destination. You have made it. There is light at the end of tunnel.

This inspiration came to me today. It was raining all day and I never saw the light. I was feeling so lost and hopeless inside and wasn't sure if I could take it anymore. Towards the end of the day though, I look into the distance and see light, coming out of the clouds that once harboured the darkness. Seeing that reminded me that the light was never gone, it was only hidden by the darkness. That darkness being the pains in my heart and selfish desires. "When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?" (The Shack).

Right now in my life, I am driving through that dark storm. The sorrows, the pain, the suffering that fill my heart. There have been many times that I've wanted to just give up. However, I realized that God's light is only hidden because of this pain and suffering. I have to keep driving down "The Highway of Life" out of the storm. Even though it may seem hopeless, the storm will eventually pass, and the light will shine ever so brightly. Slowly but surely, I will reach the destination where God wants me to go.