Obey Nonetheless

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/090513.cfm) reminds me how important it is to obey God, despite our apprehensions or questions.

In the gospel, we see Jesus preaching, and eventually making miracles. He told Simon to lower his nets so he can get some fish. at first, Simon was apprehensive, saying that they worked all night and caught nothing. Probably he was thinking that – who is this guy, he is not even a fishermen. And it shows, because he asked me to just lower my nets, but this is not a spot where we usually catch fish. but he did not let these thoughts win. He eventually obeyed – we have worked hard all night but caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets. Beucase of his faith and obedience, he was blessed.

A lot of times, we experience what Simon did. However, not all of us get past the initial apprehension phase. We are all carrying our problems, burdens and concerns. There may be times we feel what Simon felt – working hard all our lives and still accomplishing nothing, still the same problems, concerns and worries. Tired. Frustrated. However, we should not let these things overpower us. We should not let these things prevent God from working in our lives.

Had Simon told Jesus that he was too tired from working all night, even if Jesus had the power to bless him, Simon won’t be blessed. If Simon gave in to the temptation to say “Hey, we worked all night and diid what you are telling us to do, and we got nothing. So please, give me a breal” or something like that, he would really not catch anything.

God’s wisdom is beyond our understanding, and his goodness is never ending.

We don’t need to understand why he is asking us to do things, or it does not need to make sense what he is asking us to do. Sometimes, he just wants us to obey, have faith and be humble. Then he can bless us.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for giving me another day to live. Lord, I ask for the gift of faith. I ask for the gift of humility. Lord, there are a lot of times I get tired or frustrated in life. My efforts seem to get me nowhere. Same probems, same concerns, same everything. But Lord, may these things not make me lose focus on you, may these things not make me lose my faith in you. Lord, I pray that I always be humble and obedient to you. may my faith always be bigger than my concerns. Amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-