On August 2nd, I was going over some recent Bible studies when the thought came to me, “So, that is the answer?” It felt like a devotional, but I wasn’t sure. So, I typed out the phrase and sat on it. Every so often, I heard it said with the same surprise: “That is the answer?”
Today, the phrase came rushing back to me, and I knew I needed to get this devotional out. The scripture reference is from Luke 5:1-10. Peter and his friends had been fishing all day and were cleaning their empty nets when Jesus asked Peter if He could borrow the boat to sit in and minister to the crowd. Peter agreed. After Jesus completed his sermon, he asked Peter to let down the nets again.
Now, Peter and company had spent their entire time on the water trying to catch some fish, but they were unsuccessful. By the time Jesus got to them, they’d already called it quits. He spoke from experience: they’d caught nothing after trying all night. But, Peter said, “At your word, Lord, I will let down the net.”
As unlikely as it seemed, “that” time was the time. Peter tossed the net into the water, and they caught a haul so big that they had to get a second boat, which caused both ships to start sinking because of the catch. The difference was that Jesus had instructed them to do so. This is encouraging and sobering at the same time. Peter and company knew their efforts produced nothing. But that one directive from Jesus changed everything!
Whatever is called “That” is the answer, despite how unlikely it looks. The widow woman didn’t know that the lone pot of oil was the answer to her problem. There was nothing that said, “this is it,” there were no characteristics that denoted this was the answer. Throughout the Bible, we see God use a situation, person, time, item, etc., that on its own can do nothing. But when the Lord speaks and says, “that” is the answer. It is. Stretch your rod out, Moses, that’s the answer. March around Jericho, Joshua, that’s the answer. Throw a stick into the water to retrieve a metal borrowed ax head, that’s the answer. Put the meal in a poisoned pot of food, and call the people to eat the miraculously poison-free meal.
God told Gideon that his army of 22,000 men was too large to fight their enemy, the Midianites. But select the 300 people who cupped water in their hands and lapped it; they were the army/answer.
Friends of Lazarus had to move the stone and watch Jesus call a dead man out of the grave. That was the answer.
So whatever you need the Lord to do, isn’t contingent upon pristine circumstances, appropriate attire, a certain dollar amount, appearance, attitude, position or placement, who you know, how long you’ve known them, what day you visit the doctor, the weather, the stock market, the political climate, your thoughts on the matter, ____________(that blank is for you to fill in your reason why “that” can’t be).
You may feel a hint of sarcasm when you hear, “So, that is the answer?” But after your reasonings fall short, your efforts produce nothing, and the Lord calls you to drop the net, follow Peter’s lead, and say, “At thy Word, Lord,” and you will walk away with, “So, THAT IS the answer!”
I don’t know what your “that” is….All I know is when the Lord calls it to be the answer, there is no sarcasm in His instruction! It is the answer!
And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5And 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. 6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. (Luke 5:1-7 KJV)
In the Master’s Service,
Author/Pastor Michele D Robertson
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 (KJV)