Most of us long for miracles.  And Jesus’ perfect life, death on sinners’ behalf as the fulfillment of Passover, and His physical resurrection prove that He is willing and able to meet our greatest needs:  complete forgiveness and a new heart to follow Him as our living King.  But even in the Bible, most of the journey with Jesus is lived in the moments between miracles.  In this 50-day series, we’ll consider some of those moments leading up to the next great miracle in the New Testament:  the fulfillment of Pentecost and the incredible growth of the Church.

The disciples, most of whom we’re told were fishermen by trade, had been fishing all night.  Maybe they had only been casting their nets to the other three sides of the boat.  That’s not likely.

The Lord’s simplicity reminded them that their hope wasn’t in a method but in the Man who is also the Son of God.

But how many times have we put our faith in our feverish work, our time-tested techniques, our network of teammates, our commitment over time, etc.  And, yes, the Lord wants us to work hard to use any wisdom and talents He’s given us to accomplish the job He’s set before us.  Yet, none of these had brought results for the disciples.  Maybe because they needed to remember their primary mission:  not fishing but fishing for men.

We touched on this in yesterday’s devotional, but it may be helpful also to notice that their blessing did not come merely by fishing longer or employing  new technique.  It came by obeying the Lord. It came by His timing and His work.

You and I have probably had several metaphorical nets in the water for a long time with little or nothing to show.  We must remember that God’s purpose, His commands, His timing, and His power are everything.  Ephesians 2:1-10 tells us that the risen Lord has done the humanly impossible work of raising His people from spiritual death, and now He calls those who follow Him by faith in Him to do good works that He’s prepared in advance.  But He is the One who knows what and when those works are.

Ours is simply to trust and obey.

Serve the Lord when and where He’s put you today.  He will honor our obedience as He chooses for His glory and our greater faith, joy, and obedience to Him.

I hope today’s thought and others in this series will be helpful to you as you journey with Jesus in the moments between miracles.

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