The Applause of Heaven - Max Lucado [12]
"When Jesus finished, he turned to me. I stood and had begun to pull anchor when he said, `Push out into the deep, Peter. Let's fish.'
"I groaned. I looked at John. We were thinking the same thing. As long as he wanted to use the boat for a platform, that was fine. But to use it for a fishing boat-that was our territory. I started to tell this carpenter-teacher, `You stick to preaching, and I'll stick to fishing.' But I was more polite: `We worked all night. We didn't catch a thing.'
"He just looked at me. I looked at John. John was waiting for my cue ...
"I wish I could say I did it because of love. I wish I could say I did it out of devotion. But I can't. All I can say is there is a time to question and a time to listen. So, as much with a grunt as with a prayer, we pushed out.
"With every stroke of the oar, I muttered. With every pull of the paddle, I grumbled. `No way. No way. Impossible. I may not know much, but I know fishing. And all we're going to come back with are some wet nets.'
"The noise on the beach grew distant, and soon the only sound was the smack of the waves against the hull. Finally we cast anchor. I picked up the heavy netting, held it waisthigh, and started to throw it. That's when I caught a glimpse of Jesus out of the corner of my eye. His expression stopped me in midmotion.
"He was leaning out over the edge of the boat, looking out into the water where I was about to throw the net. And, get this, he was smiling. A boyish grin pushed his cheeks high and turned his round eyes into half-moons-the kind of smile you see when a child gives a gift to a friend and watches as it is unwrapped.
"He noticed me looking at him, and he tried to hide the smile, but it persisted. It pushed at the corners of his mouth until a flash of teeth appeared. He had given me a gift and could scarcely contain himself as I opened it.
"'Boy, is he in for a disappointment,' I thought as I threw the net. It flew high, spreading itself against the blue sky and floating down until it flopped against the surface, then sank. I wrapped the rope once around my hand and sat back for the long wait.
"But there was no wait. The slack rope yanked taut and tried to pull me overboard. I set my feet against the side of the boat and yelled for help. John and Jesus sprang to my side.
"We got the net in just before it began to tear. I'd never seen such a catch. It was like plopping down a sack of rocks in the boat. We began to take in water. John screamed for the other boat to help us.
"It was quite a scene: four fishermen in two boats, kneedeep in fish, and one carpenter seated on our bow, relishing the pandemonium.
"That's when I realized who he was. And that's when I realized who I was: I was the one who told God what he couldn't do!
"`Go away from me, Lord; I'm a sinful man.' There wasn't anything else I could say.
"I don't know what he saw in me, but he didn't leave. Maybe he thought if I would let him tell me how to fish, I would let him tell me how to live.
"It was a scene I would see many times over the next couple of years-in cemeteries with the dead, on hillsides with the hungry, in storms with the frightened, on roadsides with the sick. The characters would change, but the theme wouldn't. When we would say, `No way,' he would say, `My way.' Then the ones who doubted would scramble to salvage the blessing. And the One who gave it would savor the surprise."
"My power shows up best in weak people."'
God said those words. Paul wrote them down. God said he was looking for empty vessels more than strong muscles. Paul proved it.
Before he encountered Christ, Paul had been somewhat of a hero among the Pharisees. You might say he was their Wyatt Earp. He kept the law and order-or, better said, revered the Law and gave the orders. Good Jewish moms held him up as an example of a good Jewish boy. He was given the seat of honor at the Jerusalem Lions' Club Wednesday luncheon. He had a "Who's Who in Judaism" paperweight on his desk and was selected "Most Likely to Succeed" by