Jacket On, Jacket Off

When I read that Jesus told Simon Peter to let down his nets in Luke 5, I honestly thought about the movie "The Karate Kid." No, not the old one (which I have yet to see), but the new one with Will Smith's kid. On a side note, the movie is actually pretty good... just ask Lou, he's seen the movie a hundred times and still bought the blue ray yesterday. :) But I thought of the movie because in the movie, Jackie Chan (Mr. Miyagi) tells Jaden (the karate kid) to take his jacket off, and put it back on, over and over, day after day. Whenever I see this part I always say "I can't believe he kept doing that for so long... I would've quit way earlier." In Luke 5, Jesus tells Simon to put down his nets even though they were fishing all night and they caught nothing. AND... Simon was kind of an expert fisherman, if there was such a thing, and Jesus was... not. AND... fish usually come up closer to the surface at night, and stay low during the day. But despite all these things, Simon puts his nets down, and then catch so many fish that their two boats were on the verge of sinking. Some people say I am... argumentative. I will agree with this.. somewhat. I wouldn't say that I always need to win, but I guess I do like to make sure that all parties have a clear understanding of everything. :) I am also a control freak someone who likes to be in control whenever possible, so I don't like doing things without knowing why.

I don't know if I would've been as trusting as Simon was. I definitely would have at least asked some questions. It is really hard for me to trust people, even God. The thing is, I have full confidence in God. I can't say the same thing about any person, but I DO trust God. Yet, I don't always live that way. Maybe I feel a disconnect... between the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. But all through the bible, we see how God has control over heaven AND earth. He has control over the weather, disease, the fish... maybe I just need to read more. I don't really know what the answer is, to be honest with you. It's just really hard for me to give up control and trust. But I definitely want boats so full of fish that they are on the verge of sinking, metaphorically, of course. And in the story, after this happens, Simon leaves everything and follows Jesus, which, back then, was a big deal because loyalty to family was a big deal. I think I'm trying to follow Jesus first, but the way it always happens is that someone has a little tiny bit of faith, and then Jesus responds with a HUGE demonstration of love, and THEN the person responds in bigger faith. I gotta work on that tiny bit of faith for now...