Where are you now?
Photo by Sean Oulashin on Unsplash
Well Good Morning, sweet Rise and Shine friends!
I hope this week finds you well!
Last week, I went on a girls trip to the beach.
Due to colder weather, we ended up only having one day on the beach.
Oh, but we had so much fun despite the weather!
It was restful, yet full.
My heart needed the time away, the fellowship, and the slower pace.
I came back from that trip refreshed and ready for a new week.
There are times in our journey when we need a rest.
Often, we fight this rest.
We think we have to be productive at all times.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us…”There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”
The older I become, the more I see this to be absolutely true.
Last year was a doozie.
It was full of big, monumental moments.
This year has started off slower, quieter, and more restful in many ways.
At first, I tried to fight it.
I kept asking God to stir my heart to write my next book. I kept asking Him to speak and to show me the next step.
As of today, I have not heard back from Him.
Ha!
He speaks without having to say a word.
He has me in a season of rest.
These seasons can often be harder for us to understand.
We feel so….unproductive.
Oh, but there is much going on under the surface of these seasons.
I was reading the last chapter of John a few days ago.
The disciples had been out all night fishing….
To their despair, they did not catch one fish. Not ONE!
Early the next morning, Jesus appeared on the shoreline as they were heading back to shore.
I love how Jesus many times asks a question as He approaches….
At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out…
“Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
After telling Jesus that their fishing has produced nothing, Jesus asks them to do something…
Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
Wow Wow Wow!!
The disciples were almost back to shore, and Jesus came and instructed them to try one more time for fish…
And they obeyed.
How many times in our own lives have we been dry and felt like nothing at all was happening.
It is a frustrating feeling, especially for these disciples who had witnessed so many miracles in the last 3 years of their lives!
Yet, here they were.
They had spent all night with not a single fish on the radar.
Then, suddenly, as they were headed back to shore, the miracle happens.
Let’s learn from this story…
The disciples were doing their every day ordinary jobs…fishing.
The disciples were not sitting around lamenting over past miracles and the good old days gone by.
They went back to their day jobs and were faithful in every day life.
The disciples obeyed immediately when Jesus instructed them to cast the net again.
The miracle of the huge catch of fish came at the time these men least expected it.
Hmmm…
Goodness, isn’t it the same for us?
Just when we feel like the best days are gone…
Jesus shows up!
He showers us with new blessings and new mercies!
Maybe you are in this same quieter season…
Or maybe you are currently living in full on chaos.
Wherever you are….
You are there for a purpose.
And a season.
Soak it in…
The quiet…
or the noise.
Jesus has something sweet for you right in the middle of all of it.
Keep being faithful in those very small areas….the ones that nobody but God sees.
He loves a faithful heart.
He will bless that faithfulness.
Be patient.
Be expectant.
Keep preparing that empty net.
The miracle is coming….
embracing this season,
jill
