19.06 | Inconvenienced
Luke 5:1-26
'Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”’
Luke 5:3-4
In a church that I used to work in, we had a guy who helped us run the slides and visuals for the Sunday service. He was a great guy—big-hearted, warm, and a real servant in the church. His name was Steven.
But Steven also worked as a security guard, including all night on Saturday. That meant that, when Steven arrived for church on Sunday morning, he’d not slept in over 24 hours. This was a challenge, as you’d sometimes see his head nodding as the service got going, and the slides would stop changing. You’d need to either call his name into the microphone, or send someone over to give him a nudge.
In today’s reading, we’ve got another guy who’s been up all night—for Simon, in the tough physical labour of rowing and hoisting sails and hauling nets. This particular night has been hard work, but ultimately fruitless. No fish meant no income, and thus it was a huge energy expenditure for no reward. Probably aching and ready for bed, Simon had tied up his boat, and was cleaning the nets, hoping for better luck the coming night.
I’m guessing that Jesus’ interruption brought mixed feelings. An honour, for sure, but also inconvenient. It was inconvenient that Jesus picked his boat, so that he couldn’t sneak off and go home. It was inconvenient that Jesus then took time to teach the crowds, meaning he was stuck there. And then it was inconvenient that Jesus suggested trying a bit more fishing.
It’s not out of character for Jesus to inconvenience us. We want Him to arrive on our terms—after a good night’s sleep, when we can fit Him in in our diaries. We want Him to answer our prayers on our schedules, and to help us to achieve our goals impressively and quickly.
Bit there’s also something that happens in the inconvenience. Something is tested. Something happens in the tension of it all that prepares the heart for the work that Jesus is about to do.
Because as Simon let Jesus use his boat, and forced his heavy eyes to stay open and listen; as he threw those heavy nets again, at Jesus’ command, into the water with aching arms, he was learning something.
He was learning that obedience is greater than understanding. That trust was more important than comfort. That following the lead of this rabbi was more significant than his experience, his career, his reputation, his reasoning, or all of his fisherman understanding. He was, in the strain of keeping sleepy eyes open, learning that trusting obedience to this Jesus leads to a measure of abundance beyond his wildest imaginings.
The discipleship journey so often runs like this. There are times, it is true, when the answer comes quickly, and the provision is immediate, and the strategy works at the first attempt.
But those moments feel fewer and further between than the inconvenient ones. The inconvenience of this place. The inconvenience of these circumstances. The inconvenience of this body or these finances or these people.
But here, I wonder, is where Jesus so often is doing the heart work that precedes the miracle. It is here that the substance of our motives is tested and purified. It is here that we begin to grow into the kind of trust that is not conditional upon understanding, but that obeys for no other reason other than that we trust the rabbi.
Inconvenience is not the same as abandonment. So often, it is preparation. For the Lord who has you in this boat, and is asking you to obey Him beyond your understanding, is inviting you further up and further into the way of faith. This goes beyond your control and competence, your tidy boundaries and ordered plans. He is readying you for the dreams of His heart, and the furtherance of His vision, where our safe and small ideas are traded for the net-breaking impossibilities of the inconvenient rabbi.
Reflect:
Where do I feel trapped in a boat right now?
Ask the Spirit to help with this. Look to Jesus. What is He speaking to you in this place?
Pray:
Lord Jesus,
My heart would find it simpler,
Were we not to do so much of this thing called
Faith.
It’s uncomfortable.
It’s stretching.
It leaves me continually wondering if you’re going to show up
Or I’m going to be left short.
But Lord,
I also see that I cannot grow in faith
Without needing to trust where it stretches;
And that you cannot learn the ways of trust,
Unless obedience increases beyond understanding.
And so, my Lord and rabbi,
In this place,
With these people and these resources and this body,
I receive the inconveniences that you allow,
Giving you my obedience,
And trusting for your coming miracles.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Isaiah 3-5 | Psalm 77:1-15