The Whispers of God

It’s easy to see the Irish roots in my husband, Dan and his two brothers, Tom and John. Besides being brawny, easy-going, playful, and hard working these guys have two other things in common—they love Jesus and fishing. I could easily imagine these guys seriously challenging the Apostle Peter to a fishing contest.

When Tom and John heard about the nautical stories I was working on they invited Dan and me on their next deep sea fishing excursion.

Standing on the pier in front of the fishing boat, Dan’s brothers were waiting for us to arrive. Tom greeted me with a grin as rascally as the Cheshire Cat in “Alice in Wonderland” and then reached in his back pocket and pulled out a little red rag. Handing it to me he said, “Here…you’ll need this.”

One look at the rag accompanied with his grin, and it didn’t take too long to figure out the function of this cloth—so I pushed it back to him, “Oh, no thank you, I won’t need that! I’m not baiting my own hook—Dan will do that for me.”

Dan baited my hook, without exaggeration—one time. From then on I had to bait my own hook. And that little rag?—I had to pry it from Tom.

I had never been out so far in the ocean before and it was an uneasy feeling looking back at the shoreline knowing we were relying on the captain of the vessel to keep us safe. The Lord began to whisper in my heart. I didn’t receive words, but rather an understanding.

Being in God’s will is like being in that fishing boat out at sea. When we’re in God’s will we won’t always feel safe or comfortable in our physical world. Those are the times it is especially important to rely on the Captain of our vessel, Jesus, to keep us.

I never saw the captain of that fishing vessel, but every now and then he would use the boat’s intercom system to offer encouragement and give fishing tips. This also reminded me of the Captain of our souls because Jesus said, “…Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19, NKJV). And if we listen, He will offer us tips for fishing and encouragement, too.

One of several fishing tips the captain offered rang through my soul, “If you’ve had your bait out there for more than 10 minutes and you haven’t had a bite yet, reel in your line. Your bait’s dead.”

Like this live bait I used to catch fish, we offer the world a living Christ—not dead works (things we do to earn salvation) or even a dead Christ. When we offer anything other than the living Christ we will not be leading people to salvation, but to a religious experience or attitude, rather than a relationship with our Lord.

We may need to check our “bait” now and then to be certain of what we are offering, because it is “…by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9, ESV). And “…there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12, ESV)

Go fishing today with the living God. Listen for His voice for direction and encouragement.