Have you ever purchased something only to be disappointed with your purchase? I'm sure we may have one tale or another to share about a time such as that. I remember once buying a pair of shades online for my wife and specifically ordered a reddish-brown hue because that's the kind she likes. Days later the package arrived to reveal a pair of glasses with a bright purple hue. I never heard back from the seller again.
Sometimes we purchase something, get into ventures, start projects, go into ministry with a set of expectations. Somewhere along the line, our expectations aren't met and we get disappointed, frustrated, and sometimes angry at others or even God.
How should we respond when faced with situations where we don't get the results that we want? Reading off Luke 5, we see Simon and a couple of fishermen who had come back from a night with no catch - a terrible predicament for a man who lived off fishing. But we can learn a thing or two from their encounter with Christ. Here are three responses we can have when we don't get the results we want.
Let Jesus in your boat
Luke 5:3 says, "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." Interestingly enough, these fishermen thought it was a good idea to let this non-fisherman come into their boat. Question for all of us today is in whatever venture, project, business, or decision you're making today, have you let Jesus in your boat or have you left Him back at the shore?
Set out with Jesus
Luke 5:3 also tells us that Jesus "asked him to put out a little from the land." What that could mean for us today is have you set out with Jesus? So many times we're comfortable in our own homes, jobs or churches that we do not set out and venture into risky places. God wants us to buy into a decision. There is a cost to everything and Jesus calls us to count that cost and to pay for it with what we have.
Wait on God's timing
The hardest part is always the waiting. But just as Simon declared in Luke 5:5 "...Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." It's at God's word - His timing - that we move. Unless it's God's voice calling us to cast down our nets, start our businesses, reach out to a friend or cash in on an investment, we're off timing.
