Lauch out

Luke 5:4 "Launch out into the deep"..

The Lord did not tell Simon how deep he was to go..just to launch out..and go deep. I think that the depth of the water into which we sail often depends on how completely we have cut our ties to the shore, to the greatness of the need which we have, and even to our anxieties about the future. Yet..the fish were to be found..not in the shallow water..but in the deep. I believe it's the same with us. Our needs are met in the deep things of God. When we sail into the depth of God's word, which is alive, the Holy Spirit will begin to open it to us with crystal clear meaning..
"Launch out into the deep"..those were the words that came up in my spirit when Ray and I moved to Plumas Lake. I remember thinking how crazy it seemed to move so far from our friends, our family, and pretty much everything that we knew..and even more..we were headed for uncharted waters..I had never even SEEN Marysville...and after I did..I realized I hadn't missed anything. It looked like something I would have watched on an episode of Gunsmoke. I half expected Marshall Dillon to come riding up on his horse..and not only that..but this area had flooded in the past. There were a lot of questions in my mind about why we would have a sense of God's leading us here..Then one rainy day, we drove out here to pray, and the sun broke through the clouds..and off in the distance I saw the most beautiful rainbow..It became very bright and you could see both ends of it. That seemed so unusual to me because I normally don't see the entire rainbow, and especially not when it's very cloudy..then to my amazement, the rainbow became a double rainbow! I have only seen one other double rainbow in my life..and I was amazed. Ray and I sat and watched this rainbow for quite a long time..maybe 30 minutes or so..and then as the sun began to set, the rainbow began to disappear..I felt as though the Lord had put that rainbow in the clouds just for us that day...and I thought about how seeing a rainbow to me represents a promise..a promise that God made never to flood the earth again...Genesis 9:14-15.. I felt like He had answered my prayer and my concern in such a wondrous way. I had such a peace about God's call to "Launch out into the deep"..
God may be calling you to "launch out"..Maybe He is asking you to fully trust Him. Maybe He is asking you to begin to see things through the eyes or your Spirit. I don't know what he may be calling you to..I only know that in my own life, it has been those times of "launching out" that have grown my faith..it has been those times of stepping out by faith, that my trust for Him has grown..and it has been during those times when my trust has grown, that my love for Him has deepened. Maybe whatever He is calling you to doesn't make sense..remember..the things of God do not always make sense to the human mind. Even now, we grow spiritually rich by loss..we rise when we fall..we live by dying to self..and we become full by being emptied. When your feet can no longer touch the bottom..when you can no longer hang on to the side..that is when you can be completely submerged in Jesus' life giving stream and He can carry you into His plans and purposes.