Handpicked Out of Obscurity
Jesus handpicks us out of obscurity. He chooses the unremarkable to live for His purpose. One day, Jesus was pressed by a crowd as he stood preaching by the shore of Galilee (Luke 5:1-11). No one in the crowd noticed Simon, a lowly unschooled fisherman who wasn’t focused on what the Nazarene preacher had to say. He was busy washing his nets, and was aggravated that a crowd had just invaded his turf. And he was depressed that he and his partners had labored all night and caught nothing. No one noticed this irritated down-and-out fisherman. But Jesus spotted him . . . climbed into his boat, and kept teaching from Simon’s boat. Similarly, Jesus zeros in on each of us in a crowd, and He climbs into our “boat” when we are distracted, despondent, overwhelmed, and failing. Today, he climbs into your boat and mine. Uninvited!
When Jesus got into my boat, I was an ordinary housewife with two little kids. Then, the Lord called me to lead. Most of our church planters are ordinary folks. Many have a past. Many possess no degrees, no family backgrounds. But Jesus spotted each of us out of obscurity and called us out of a crowd—for a purpose.
While Jesus was in Simon’s boat, he did three things:
He turned Nothing into Fullness: Simon caught nothing, “but because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Simon then caught so much that the nets began to break. I had to surrender the areas in my life where I’ve labored and the labor amounted to nothing. What is your area of “caught nothing” that you need to renew the hope of “because You say so, I will let down the nets again”?
He turned the Shallows into the Deep: Jesus took Simon’s boat that caught nothing from the shore to the shallows and into the deep: “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.” There are so many places that would be deep sea fishing for the Gospel that I tremble for All Nations to cast the net. The deep is where the storms and squalls are, but where the overwhelming catches for the Kingdom potentially are—to the point of straining the nets.
He turned Sinners into Purposed Fishers of Men: Simon pushed the Lord away from his sinful self. How often have I retreated because I was so self-condemned, wallowing in my failures. But Jesus chooses us at our worst and speaks the same words that He spoke to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” He wipes away our fears, sins, and condemnation by His death and resurrection. Then, he calls us to be fishers of men—disciple makers—so that people from everywhere may know Him.
Why do we do missions? Because Jesus has called a whole bunch of us obscure down-and-out sinners. He climbs into the “boats” of our lives. He challenges us to cast into the deep just because we hear Him say so. He cleanses our hearts of sin and condemnation. Then He issues us the call to be fishers of men—disciple-makers in the nations.
That day, Jesus’ words transformed not only Peter, but also James and John: “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” That’s us in All Nations! Each of us have pulled up our lives on His “shore”, left everything, and followed Jesus to be fishers of men in the nations. Jesus spotted each of us out of obscurity and called us out of a crowd. To be a fisher of men. To be a disciple-maker. Today, let your obscurity, failures and sorrows qualify you to be called out by Jesus.
Blessings,
Mary
Dr. Mary Ho, DSL
All Nations International, Inc. | International Executive Leader
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