Jesus had commandeered Simon’s boat to serve as a speaker’s platform one early morning. His message to the crowd had no doubt been rich and powerful. I’m sure Simon was mesmerized by Jesus’ teaching. But now the message was done and Simon was ready to put his boat away and go home. Then Jesus made a strange request of him: “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). This was an odd request for two reasons. First, fishing was done at night and it was now daytime – most likely mid-morning, since Simon had been washing his nets when Jesus came along. In fact, he had told Jesus, “We’ve been fishing all night” (v. 5 paraphrased). Secondly, Jesus told him to go to “deep water.” Fishing in the region of Galilee was done by watching for schools of fish in the shallow waters and scooping them up in the nets You would not be able to see the fish in the deep water. The request must have seemed to Simon to be a foolish venture.
Sometimes God asks us to do the strangest things. To walk through walls of water. To march around city ramparts. To go into battle against a vast army with three-hundred men. To go on mission where “angels fear to tread.” Or maybe it’s something much simpler. To love an unlovable person. To give when you have little to nothing. To walk away from a lucrative job to be present with your family. To invest in people who have nothing to give you in return. Or something even simpler still: to sacrifice an hour of sleep to spend the morning in God’s sweet presence.
Why would Simon, weary from a long night’s labor, acquiesce to such a nonsensical request. For the same reason that you and I can – there was something about Jesus that Simon knew he could trust. The seasoned fisherman didn’t argue back but simply said, “Because you say so . . .” (v. 5). There have been many times God has asked me to do something that made no sense to me. I saw no benefit from it; I didn’t even see how it was going to work. Yet I did it because I trust Him. And my trust was always rewarded. Beloved, I don’t know what strange thing God has asked of you, but I do know that you can trust Him. He will never send you on a fool’s errand. Get in the boat and go fishing with Jesus – just be ready for a great haul!