Luke 5:3-5 (NKJV). Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He 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.”
We are blessed to journey with the Lord daily. He is the best coach, guide, helper, and strategist, and He is interested to guide us through every twist and turn in life. When we are facing a fork road of our lives, we need a firm footing to help us move forward with confidence.
One good thing that this COVID crisis has brought about is bringing Christians back to the basic of walking by faith. Our best planning and strategizing may yield little results against a tough economy, so what ultimately matters is walking by faith.
It is difficult to anchor our faith amid the perfect storms of life unless we know that we are in the middle of God’s will, which means we need to live out the consecrated life, and what will give us a firm footing is a Word from God.
Nonetheless, we may still face storms even when we are walking in His will. Therefore, we should seek the face of God even if we have sought His face and are walking in His will, so that we can be led by Him continuously to make adjustments, but to do that, it is vital to have a Word from God.
Fishermen normally set off for fishing at night. Therefore, it is both humbling and frustrating to have caught nothing after toiling overnight. It is so for us when business is stagnant, and as professionals we are at our wits end and unable to turn things around despite our experience and expertise.
Jesus instructed them to launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch. It is so comforting to see how Jesus instructed people specifically to do the right thing, and wonderful to witness how they responded to it. Simon Peter obeyed after having heard Jesus’ teaching at the shore, even though he had caught nothing the previous night and it was not the best time for fishing. As a result, he caught a great number of fish.
We should learn from Peter and simply listen and obey. Unfortunately, we even struggle with simple instructions sometimes, thinking that God won’t bother with such minor issues. Instead, we come up with our own plan, follow our agenda and get disappointed when God does not bless it. God is not obliged to endorse our plan especially when He was not even consulted about it! However, if we seek the Lord’s will instead of ours, we can have a firm footing to beat any storm.
Sermon Series: A Firm Footing
稳固根基 无惧风雨
路加福音5：3-5 有一只船，是西门的，耶稣就上去，请他把船撑开，稍微离岸，就坐下，从船上教训众人。讲完了，对西门说，把船开到水深之处，下网打鱼。西门说，夫子，我们整夜劳力，并没有打着甚么。但依从你的话，我就下网。
我们是蒙福的，每日可以与主同行。祂是最好的教练、向导、帮手和参谋。祂有兴趣引导我们跨过生命中的每一个沟沟坎坎。当我们来到生命的三岔路口，我们需要稳固的根基帮助我们充满信心地往前迈进。
新冠危机带来的一个益处是让基督徒重新回到“凭信心而行”的根本。面对严峻的经济状况，我们最好的计划和策略可能收效甚微，因此凭信心而行至关重要。
除非我们知道我们正行在神的旨意中– 这意味着我们要活出分别为圣的生命，否则我们很难在生命的风暴中锚定自己的信心，而赐与我们稳固根基的将是那从神而来的话语。
虽然如此，即便我们正行在祂的旨意之中，我们仍然可能遭遇风暴。因此虽然我们寻求过神的面并正行在祂的旨意中，我们仍然需要寻求神的面，好教我们能够蒙祂持续地带领并不断作出调整，为了这么做，得到神的话语至关重要。
渔夫们常常在夜间出发打鱼。辛劳了一整夜却一无所获，这使他们既羞愧又倍感挫败。当业务停滞我们也会有同感，作为专业人士我们已然黔驴技穷，尽管我们经验丰富，却无能为力，无法扭转局面。
耶稣指示他们进入水深之处并放下网捕捞。看到耶稣明确具体地指示人做对的事，很令人得安慰，见证门徒们如何回应主，也很令人高兴。西门彼得在听取耶稣在离岸的教导后就遵行了，虽然他在前一晚一无所获，当时也不是捕鱼最好的时间。而结果是他捕到了很多鱼。
我们要学习彼得单纯地听命并且顺服。遗憾的是我们有时候对于简单的指示也很挣扎，觉得神才懒得管这些小事。 相反我们提出了自己的计划，根据自己的议程行事，当没有得到神的祝福时我们就感到失望。神没有义务为我们的计划背书，尤其当没有人就此征询过祂的意见时。然而如果我们寻求神的旨意而不是我们自己的, 我们就能拥有一个稳固的根基，无惧任何风暴。
讲章系列：稳固的根基