Gregory Dickow - The Secret to Trusting God, Even When You Don't Feel It
One of the things that I've found in Jesus was he pushed into the boat with with Peter, and he preached from Peter's boat to the Multitudes and Luke Chapter five and when he was done preaching, he said, Now let's go out to the deep. Now he's going to apply what he's heard. Now he wants Peter to apply what he's heard. You see Jesus never teaches us something with no application following. He always teaches us, teaches us something that we can apply immediately to our lives. It's not a religion. It's a beautiful relationship of importation and revelation from God so that we can go and apply what he says. So he preaches the word of God and everyone that was in need of encouragement and healing and joy and peace. They they received it. And then when he was done speaking, he said to Peter, Let's go out into the deep.
Let's launch into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Peter met Jesus with rationale. Peter met Jesus with previous experience. Peter met Jesus request with. But, but, but. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. But. Just a lot of big butts in that moment, Master. But we've fished all night. We've worked all night and caught nothing. You see, this journey with God is going to ask of you to believe things that you've never believed before and you to go places you've never gone before, to reach points in your life that you've never reached before to become a person you've never become before. To go to a bold place that you're not comfortable with because you're comfortable the other way. And I don't really get what Peter was so comfortable about, except when I start to look at my own life and realize, you know what?
I've been just like that. When God says a challenge, when God says something, all these reasons. But, but, but, but, but that we can all come up with all these excuses. We all come up with. We fished all night and caught nothing, really. When you think about it, what did Peter have to lose? But you see, he was basing his relationship with Jesus and what Jesus said to him. He was basing it on his previous experiences. We fished all night and caught nothing.
Now we have to come to a place where we are willing to meet God at least where Peter met him. Peter was willing, and he was a vulnerable man. Peter He always told that what he felt. He always said what he felt. I'll never betray you, though. They all will deny you. But I will never deny you. Master, Let's call down Fire from heaven and burn these suckers up. Okay. Might not even been Peter that said that, but I'm sure if one of them said that it was Peter's idea. But Peter meets Jesus halfway.
You know, that's not such a bad idea. That's not such a bad idea. He meets him halfway in that he acknowledges his human experience is We've caught nothing. We fished on that and caught nothing. He says, nevertheless, which is another. But I like that word. But there. But at your word, I'll let down the next. So Peter meets him there by recognizing his human experience. I've never experienced this before. This has never been done that way before. That's not what fishermen do. We don't do that when we fished all night and caught nothing. That's not normal. It's not regular. It's not my experience. It's not my five physical senses is telling. It's illogical to me. But at your word. Yeah.
You see, we have to be okay with being human. Mm. The human part of Peter and all of his part. All of Peter is human. Just like all of us. We are all human. We have the spirit of God in us, and we're connected with Him. But we're all human. And life is a ironic contradiction continually. And that's okay, because trusting God is where peace comes from. Trusting God is where joy comes from, trusting God is where life is really lived. Trusting God is really the the best place we can be. So it will seem like a contradiction often in our lives. Lord, I've spent all my money on these other things. But at your word, all ties. But at your word. I'll plant a seed. But that's your word. I'll worship with my giving. But at your word, I believe for a harvest.
That's why you're sitting in chairs that somebody's believed God for. You're standing in a building. I'm standing in a building. I'm standing in something that was just a acreage of corn one day. Yeah, a bunch of corn. That's why the pastor's a little corny. Sometime. We are what we This church is something that came out of nothing. Somebody has to believe God. Somebody has to say fished all night and caught nothing but at your word. So somebody had to say, We're going to build this church. Somebody had to say, I'm going to build this business. Somebody had to say, I'm going to rebuild my life after the damage that I've done or the damage has been done to me. I'm going to rebuild my life. Somebody's got to take a step of faith in our decisions.
And our emotions cannot be rooted in our current circumstances, our emotions and our decisions cannot be rooted in our previous experiences. Our emotions and our decisions cannot be rooted in the way it used to be. Our emotions and our decisions must be rooted in faith. I can have anger. I'm not going to bed with it. The Bible says, Don't let the sun go down on your anger. I can have anger, but I can believe that God will turn this thing around, that I can be bitter, but I can say, Yeah, I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. I'm not saying to remain bitter. I'm saying to recognize your humanity. And it's okay to be bitter and say, Yeah, but God is good, but God's goodness is going to show up. But goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life.
You see, when you try to be perfect, you can never admit what you need to admit to make progress. To say pride is the stumbling block of all of humanity, and humility is the answer to everything. Humility is the answer to everything, man. It's not the only answer to everything, but it's always an ingredient of the answer to everything. That's good. Always be humble and always have humility. Never take yourself so seriously that you can't laugh at yourself, that you can't make fun of yourself. The only person you should ever make fun of is yourself and not be insecure about it. Yeah, this contradiction is where life is lived. Master, we fished all night and caught nothing but at your word. At your word.