I woke up this morning to my alarm buzzing in my ear as I proceeded to hit the snooze button a few times. I looked at the time and knew if I didn't get up right then and there, I would throw my morning routine off, and who wants to start a day off like that?
Before I get ready for work, I like to spend some time having coffee and spending time with Christ #CoffeeWithChrist. However, this morning I was exhausted and struggled to get up. The sound of the morning thunderstorms was so soothing that it made it difficult for me to resist the temptation to stay in bed.
So I prayed.
God, give me the want to, to get out of bed.
And then a thought jumped into my sluggish mind.
💭 God is not some genie in magic lamp.
I know this. Thank You, God, for the apparent point :)
But how often do I think this and portray Him as such?
"Ask and you shall receive whatever your heart desires!"
But Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure."
My heart wants a million dollars, but it may not be in God's Will for my life to hand it over to me without any work.
Sometimes we believe God will make our wishes instantly come true if we pray with enough intensity and desire. However, it's important to remember that blessings often require effort and hard work, even after we've prayed for them to happen miraculously.
After he placed that one thought in my mind, the story of Jesus and the fishermen from John 21 came to me. After fishing throughout the entire night, they were utterly exhausted by the morning, and unfortunately, they had nothing to show for their hard work.
I can only imagine they felt defeated and like they had failed.
BUT JESUS comes and says, "Throw out your net."
Let's pause momentarily and remember a key detail in this story. Jesus is fully God. He could have easily blessed their boat with abundant fish to feed everyone in the town and then some!
But He didn't, and the disciples, at this point, did not know the man was Jesus.
They soon figure that out, though.
Jesus gave a command: "Throw out your net on the right side of the boat, and you'll find some!" So they did. John 21:6
At this point, the disciples had a choice: Listen or don't.
Can you imagine if they refused to listen? What if they thought, "who is this guy to tell us that we will find some after we throw the net out?"
I can imagine the conversation I know I would be having if I were in that boat. Who does this man think he is? Doesn't he know we have already been at this all night without any luck of catching even one fish? Nah, we are all tired, and nothing has worked all night. Let's go home and sleep. We give up.
If they refused to listen, they would miss out on a blessing and a moment with Jesus.
But Jesus said, "do this... and you will find what you want."
So they did.
And they couldn't haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. John 21:6b
Jesus commanded, they listened, and then they were blessed by their obedience.
Just as Jesus said.
"Kelsey, get out of bed."
Nah, Lord, I am too tired and lazy to get up; let me sleep 30 more mins.
⚠️ I want to make a quick disclaimer, and then I will move on. I am not "preaching" or "teaching" the prosperity gospel. I do not believe in the prosperity gospel. Our obedience and willingness to listen to what God calls us to do can be blessings. Not every time, though. This is an entirely different topic I don't feel ready to dive into... yet.
Anyways.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. John 21:10-11
We see another magic lamp opportunity for Jesus. He could have helped them haul the load in. He could have made the net lighter. He could have made the fish fly onto land or something else supernatural. He could have called the boat to come to shore so Peter didn't have to truck back out there.
But He didn't.
Again, Jesus commanded, and Peter listened. I believe that because of Peter's obedience, it was an opportunity to grow his faith and relationship with Jesus. A simple yes, blessed him. And we have that same opportunity if we so choose to say yes.
Jesus watched the disciples as He tended to the coals, preparing the heat for a feast.
Then Jesus said, "Come and have breakfast." John 21:12
There is a critical point in this passage that I felt laid on my heart heavily this morning.
𝓦𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓸 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓼𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼
Jesus could have easily pushed me out of bed this morning.
He could have given me the motivation to move.
He could have lifted me out of bed and put me in the kitchen to get my coffee.
But He didn't.
He said, "Kelsey, get out of bed."
Then He gave me a choice.
Do what He asked me to do or don't do it.
Jesus expects us to work, not be lazy, and not think of Him as a genie in a bottle.
But to listen when He commands or asks us to do something we may not have the motivation or willpower to do.
𝐿𝒶𝓏𝓎 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇. Proverbs 13:4
Friends, Jesus sometimes will call us to DO something, to get something.
This story is not the only one the Good Lord gives us about Jesus commanding and then leaving the commanded with a choice.
It's not the first time Jesus says, "Get up, go."
I want to leave you with a couple of questions to reflect on.
1. What is Jesus calling you to do that you are resisting?
2. What are you praying for to happen, yet resisting any action on your part?
3. How can you grow closer to Jesus by saying yes to throwing in your net?
Most of life, we don't get something by doing nothing.
We don't grow by not doing the work to grow.
You can't expect to achieve muscle growth by simply watching others work out at the gym without doing anything yourself.
The answer may always be no if we take no action.
If Jesus said, "Kelsey, get out of bed."
And, I chose to stay in bed; this blog would not have gotten written, and I would have missed the opportunity to spend time with Jesus and to write to worship my Lord and Savior. So I chose to get out of bed, and in the end, I was blessed, and I hope and pray this blesses you too.
Again, I must reiterate that just because we do something for God does not mean He will always bless us.
Following what Jesus calls us to do and being obedient is not us working for our faith or salvation.
Listening and being obedient is an outward action because of our faith in Jesus.
May we be people of action and not people who see God as a genie.
Take this passage to heart:
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:17 NIV
And ALWAYS remember: God is patient and gracious to us. Nothing we do or don't do will ever separate us from His love.
He loves you when you say yes, and He loves you when you say no.
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