When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out to where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!”  Simon replied, “We worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.”
Luke 5:4–5

The Lord told Simon, “Go deeper,” and do what you did before— but now you will get different results! What is deeper? To me, it is a number of things: my prayer life, spending time in the Word, and allowing myself to be still to listen to God giving me direction.

What was Simon’s response? “But Lord, we already did that, all night long.” He did protest, but eventually he said, “Okay, if you say so, we will try one more time.” I can just picture that discussion. When you hear the voice of the Lord telling you to do something or go somewhere and it makes no sense to you—we protest, I’ve already done that, or, I’ve gone there before! God does not mind us protesting, as long as we become obedient to His direction. So, we go there, sometimes reluctantly. And then we experience a God moment . . .

So today, let’s be still, let’s listen to what God is telling us. Spend this moment quietly and try to let your mind take you to being on the boat with Jesus—he just finished speaking to the crowd, and he turns to you. He looks in your eyes and gives you a command. What is it? You may protest at first: Lord, that won’t work! Or, Lord, I’ve done that already! But, although reluctantly, like Simon, you agree to be obedient to his direction. Now cast that net again.

Have a fruitful day!