Jesus said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.
John 21:6
There have been two times in my life when I fished. As a child, my uncle took me to a lake. He baited the hook and pulled in the fish. When we got home, I put them in a tub filled with water so they wouldn’t die. Fast forward to the Amazon River, where we went fishing for piranha. Although they’re small, I caught the biggest one. Score! To this day I won’t let my husband, the fly fisherman, forget it.
All to say that the whole fishing metaphor in Scripture likely has meanings that I simply do not grasp. Seriously, how many of us have fished with a net? Who among us are commercial fishermen? Don’t people rely on sonar now to find the big fish?
I actually know quite a few epic fishermen. They know how to cast a net, where to find the fish, and how to reel them in. And each catch, no matter how big or small, is a score. In fact, we should all be out there in the proverbial lake, pulling in souls for Jesus.
SEAPC has cast a net over the wide world through prayer. Over 122 nations have prayer networks. In 28 of those there is active participation in meeting people’s needs through health, education, parenting, and micro-economics. It’s an amazing effort of plowing in prayer, sowing in word, watering in resource, and harvest in sending.
But sometimes the net is thrown in and seems to come up empty. What then? Where’s the soul sonar? How do we find the fish and make them swim into the net? What, oh what, are we to do? The simple answer is found in the questions. We are not to do anything; therein lies the problem. Under our own strength, we achieve pride, disobedience, and failure as we position ourselves as the savior.
SEAPC is first and foremost a prayer ministry. Unless we prayerfully understand our call and God’s vision—and walk in that call and vision—our nets will be perpetually empty. But they are only empty if we see them that way. It is a matter of perception. To fill our nets we are to be humble, obedient, and prayerful.
There are times when it seems like the net is never going to be filled. In 2018, the medical team visited Kashmir, India. God cast a vision for John Bishop Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, a Christian school in the midst of a Muslim majority region. A school destined to be closed by the end of the year if not rebuilt to government standards.
No-brainer, right? Bring Jesus to Kashmir! Support the Church of Northern India! Provide more than a medical education for the young women there! Win-win for sure! So of course we could help rebuild. It is now the end of 2019, and nothing has progressed. Kashmir is in political turmoil. Teams can’t go. Funds aren’t available. The net certainly seems to be empty. Should it be cast in a different direction? After using our intellect, leadership, and abilities, not a single stone has been laid.
But contrary to what our brainpower perceives, the net is anything but empty. Consider the following facts. As the first western medical team in Kashmir since 1945, bridges were built between hospital administration, the local church, and the Muslim students who worked side by side with practitioners. Relationships have been nurtured and are growing between people, nations, and the Lord. Jesus has been introduced to the nursing students, who are learning daily about prayer, life in Christ, and how to bring Jesus to families and friends.
Look at Peter in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been crucified. The disciples likely needed money and went back to what they knew—fishing. In other words, they went back to relying on self, not on God. Peter failed; he alone couldn’t provide what was needed. It took trusting in the man on the beach who already had cooked the fish and baked the bread. To fill the net takes setting aside pride, being humble, and throwing the net where He directs, and when He directs.
Reliance on the Holy Spirit alone is possible. Certainly we plan, pray, have faith, and obey. Prayer is the net. Obedience draws it together. As sinful human beings, we will always let one another down. Praise God that through our weakness, He becomes strong. And along the way there is time for spiritual seeds to mature.
Our role is to throw the net, something SEAPC strives to do all over the world. Nothing, from the smallest detail to the largest project, happens without an intense time of prayer first. As we humbly cast the net where He tells us to throw it, it will be filled when it needs to be filled. For His purposes, not for ours.
Our role is very clear. We are called to pray. To be obedient. To sow the seeds of faith. And to be witnesses. Each time we tell the story of something God has done, His glory shines and His word goes forth. What we don’t need to do is even clearer. We don’t fill the net in our own power. And in fact, it’s impossible.
Once it’s full, we can pray further to supply needs. It all starts, moves, and ends with the grace, mercy, and incredible blessings of our Triune God.
I don’t know about you, but my bumper sticker now says: I’d rather be fishing.
