Practice Makes Perfect
by Joyce Meyer - posted January 17, 2016You shall walk after the Lord your God and [reverently] fear Him . . . and obey His voice. . . .
—Deuteronomy 13:4
Once we begin listening to and hearing from God, it is important to obey whatever we hear Him say. Obedience increases our quality of fellowship with Him and strengthens our faith. We might say, "Practice makes perfect" when it comes to hearing and obeying Him. In other words, we become more and more confident as we gain experience.
It takes a lot of practice to reach the point of complete submission to God's leading. Even knowing that God's ways are perfect and that His plans always work, we still feign ignorance sometimes when He asks us to do something that requires personal sacrifice, or we might even be afraid that we are not hearing clearly and therefore become too cautious to take action.
Don't be fearful of sacrifice or of making a mistake. There are many things in life that are worse than being wrong. Jesus said, "Follow Me." I firmly believe that when we have done our best to hear from God, then we must "step out and find out," if we truly are hearing His voice or not. Shrinking back in fear all of our lives will never allow us to make progress in our ability to hear from God.
He did not say, "You take the lead, and I will follow you." I have learned that we may as well do quickly whatever God says, because if we don't, I can guarantee that we will be miserable.
When our children are learning how to walk, we don't get angry when they fall down. We realize they are learning and we work with them. God is the same way and He will teach you how to hear from Him if you walk in faith and not fear.
Fishing with Jesus
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”
Luke 5:4–6
We don’t know how old Peter was when Jesus called him to be a disciple, but we do know that he had spent his entire life as a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Even today fishing is a major industry on the small lake in northern Israel, with many different kinds of fish being caught commercially. In Peter’s day, most of the fishing was done in small boats using nets that would be thrown into the water and dragged back into the boat over and over again throughout the night. It was a tiring and backbreaking way to make a living, but it was Peter’s livelihood.
When Jesus finished his sermon delivered from the borrowed boat, He sent Peter back out onto the sea. It had already been a discouraging night for Peter, as his best efforts had produced nothing, and now the time for fishing was past. Yet he was willing to obey Jesus and do something that had no hope of success according to human reasoning. He agreed to let down the net again “at thy word.” His faith was in the word of the Lord.
In return for his obedience, Peter found himself hauling in the greatest catch of his life. God is able to do anything. His power has not weakened. But too often we go the way we think best, leaning on our own understanding rather than trusting and obeying the Lord. As a result, we miss seeing His power at work in our lives.
Luke 5:4–6
We don’t know how old Peter was when Jesus called him to be a disciple, but we do know that he had spent his entire life as a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Even today fishing is a major industry on the small lake in northern Israel, with many different kinds of fish being caught commercially. In Peter’s day, most of the fishing was done in small boats using nets that would be thrown into the water and dragged back into the boat over and over again throughout the night. It was a tiring and backbreaking way to make a living, but it was Peter’s livelihood.
When Jesus finished his sermon delivered from the borrowed boat, He sent Peter back out onto the sea. It had already been a discouraging night for Peter, as his best efforts had produced nothing, and now the time for fishing was past. Yet he was willing to obey Jesus and do something that had no hope of success according to human reasoning. He agreed to let down the net again “at thy word.” His faith was in the word of the Lord.
In return for his obedience, Peter found himself hauling in the greatest catch of his life. God is able to do anything. His power has not weakened. But too often we go the way we think best, leaning on our own understanding rather than trusting and obeying the Lord. As a result, we miss seeing His power at work in our lives.
Today’s Growth Principle:
When we do what God tells us to do, we get what His power can produce rather than what we can do on our own.
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