Leadership
WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO GIVE UP
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” And Simon answering said unto him, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.” And when they had thus done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. (LUKE 5: 4-6)
Charles Spurgeon wrote an interesting chapter in his book called, “How to raise men from the dead.” The idea behind the story is that all men without Christ are those who are dead in trespasses and sins. And it takes a Christian, one who is endued with the spirit of God and equipped with the Ministry of God, who is promised to have success in raising men from the dead. That basically is our call, when we respond to his invitation to follow him, and his promise is that he will make us fishers of men. When Jesus said that, he wasn't inferring that when you fish for men, that you are not going to be successful. Jesus promised to us that he will give us the ability to be successful in our endeavors. Now when we think of that, we may wonder why we do not see more of those promises fulfilled? There is a good reason for this and we shall talk about it in this chapter. In the above passage, we see a picture of Peter being discouraged after a long day of fishing and nothing happening.
As every experienced fisherman knows, there are that kind of days, and if it were not for the more abundant times we might tend to give up the fishing business altogether. Well, Peter was having one of those days. He was ready to call it quits because nothing was happening after all that time. Now that is somewhat like the fishers of men who have dry spells often and because they do so, they may tend to think that they are not called to be soul winners. These people may conclude that it is not for everyone. But once again I want to remind you that Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” That's the promise to whom Jesus calls to follow Him. It’s like the idea of somebody saying that they’re called to preach. What do they do when they never catch any fish? They conclude that they’re not an evangelist and it’s not their gift, so they venture off into some other area where they are content to see nothing happen at all. So, as he was getting discouraged, Jesus spoke and said to Simon, “Simon cast your net on the side of the boat because you’re going to get a great bunch of fish to catch.” While Simon knew better, his logic led him to think there's no use, we have fished all night and nothing has happened. But Jesus was in the boat and Jesus gave the command, and Peter reluctantly cast the net off to the side, thinking here is just another effort in futility. Immediately, he caught so many fish that the net began to break. Once again, Jesus command “follow me or let down your net for you shall catch much fish” and in this matter of fishing, Peter realized that Jesus was faithful to his word.
Now let's address this matter of giving up because you catch no fish. Perhaps the time you tried it you were lacking in understanding and confidence and you lost your nerve. Does that mean that God's promise is not true? Then what about the time you took all those soul winner classes and learned all the procedures, even received a certificate of completion. However, when it came to sharing it with men, once again you lost your nerve and your confidence. Soul winning sometimes produces results in our first attempt to share the gospel. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work this way. I recall the first soul I won to Christ was so easy because the timing was right and the person that I spoke to was eager to respond. It's my belief that God will answer our requests in the manner that we are prepared. Sometimes in our failure, we learn our greatest lesson of how to do things better. Fishing for men is a lifetime mission and we must grow in our ability to more perfectly communicate the gospel and not be content with old methods that no longer work in our modern world. Preparation for preaching is a lifetime process. I might say also that as we grow and learn new methods and see God working through these, they become more exciting and true to our personalities and lifestyle.
So, if you try to share the gospel with others don't despair if you don't see immediate results. I recall hearing a story about a friend of mine who went out to the mission field and became a great missionary and influenced many people for Christ more than he had ever hoped to reach. Then one day he was giving a testimony to a group of people and he told them that I had led him to Christ. I never believed that message for I never recall doing so. When I questioned him about the problem, he mentioned that one time he came home (drunk) and I gave him a cup of coffee, and that evening he received Christ. We never know the results of our labors. Sometimes God lets us know, and other times we may not find out until later in life or maybe not at all. But that should not cause us to give up being a fisher of men. If you give up, you will certainly not reach anyone for Christ and who knows what reward you will have when the Son of Man comes to give his rewards?
Follow me and I will make you, fishers of men. You see, it is not we who brings on conversion or win souls, our job is to follow Jesus and the souls that come will come because he causes it to happen. It cannot be any other way. If you are not a Christian, you cannot expect to catch fish (men). You may learn the program, you may employ high-pressure methods to coerce people into the kingdom, but the work will be yours alone. If there are any fish caught at all, it will be because God has granted it so for the sake of the fish. Follow Jesus, believe his promise, persevere faithfully and expect the blessing that promise brings. Don’t give up!
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