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| Photo By Amelia Grace Photography |
As the daughter
of a former commercial fisherman, I developed an appreciation for fishing from
a very early age. I have fond memories
of fishing with Dad from as far back as I can remember, and I still enjoy those
precious moments sharing the activity he loves best. That fondness for fishing has also carried
into relationships with friends, as we sometimes enjoy fishing with one
another. On a trip a few years back, I
was fishing with a sweet friend, who was going through some really tough life
challenges. Lots of wonderful conversations
happened as our lines bobbed up and down in the beautiful waters of the Gulf of
Mexico on a warm September night. We had
hiked (literally) to the unpopulated tip of the peninsula of Fort Morgan to
fish at midnight, the prime time for catching redfish off of the point. We had purchased some bait from the local
shop – mullet, I think. The shop owner
had cut it for us into healthy, fleshy sections to use to catch the “big one”
that we so hoped for. (And yes, I can
and do bait my own hook!) After a couple of hours, we were reaching the end of
our supply of bait, and we hadn’t caught
one single fish. We were so deflated, and our egos were wounded!
We looked down at last piece of bait left. Where the other sections had been healthy, meaty and substantial, this last one just looked sad - Small, scrappy, with broken flesh and seemingly useless. My friend said, “It’s not even worth it. That’s a horrible piece of bait. Let’s just pack up and call it a night.” Well, I wasn’t having it. I had a gut feeling that God was up to something. I knew how much this meant to my friend; something as simple as catching just one fish that night was going to be such an encouragement to a weary heart, and I also knew that God knew! So, I prayed, and my friend baited that sad little piece of flesh onto the hook. We cast all that we had left into the water. Y’all, not seconds later, that pole bent like I’ve never seen a pole bend before. My friend smiled and cried, and he said “Melissa, you need to feel this!” He handed me the pole and felt the power of the catch. It was amazing! I could barely hold it. I was NOT going to be responsible for losing that fish, so I carefully handed the rod back to my friend. After a long time of reeling it in, there it was…a 32-pound redfish.
That’s just how God’s grace is, isn’t it? When we are at the end of ourselves with nothing left but a sad, broken, scrappy offering, He turns it into something beautiful, because His glory is so much greater than the offering. It’s not about our perceived quality of what we cast into the waters. The point of the offering is our faith.
Remember the widow and the oil?
We looked down at last piece of bait left. Where the other sections had been healthy, meaty and substantial, this last one just looked sad - Small, scrappy, with broken flesh and seemingly useless. My friend said, “It’s not even worth it. That’s a horrible piece of bait. Let’s just pack up and call it a night.” Well, I wasn’t having it. I had a gut feeling that God was up to something. I knew how much this meant to my friend; something as simple as catching just one fish that night was going to be such an encouragement to a weary heart, and I also knew that God knew! So, I prayed, and my friend baited that sad little piece of flesh onto the hook. We cast all that we had left into the water. Y’all, not seconds later, that pole bent like I’ve never seen a pole bend before. My friend smiled and cried, and he said “Melissa, you need to feel this!” He handed me the pole and felt the power of the catch. It was amazing! I could barely hold it. I was NOT going to be responsible for losing that fish, so I carefully handed the rod back to my friend. After a long time of reeling it in, there it was…a 32-pound redfish.
That’s just how God’s grace is, isn’t it? When we are at the end of ourselves with nothing left but a sad, broken, scrappy offering, He turns it into something beautiful, because His glory is so much greater than the offering. It’s not about our perceived quality of what we cast into the waters. The point of the offering is our faith.
Remember the widow and the oil?
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. Now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “Except a small jar of olive oil.” (2 Kings 4: 1-7, NIV)
Elisha then instructed the widow to gather jars, so she borrowed jars (a lot of them!) from neighbors, and from that one little jar of oil in her home, the multitude of gathered pots and jars were filled. Elijah then instructed her to sell the oil and repay her debt and told that her and her sons may live on what was left.
Elijah had asked the widow a simple question: “What do you have?” She was focused on what she did not have, but the prophet helped her to see that God wants our offering, whatever it may be, to be given in faith that the Lord will provide whatever we need.
So many times, I am focused on shame or worry over what I don’t have to offer the Lord, but the truth is that He promises that if we “have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:20-21)
Many times I have cried out to the Lord the confession that I am broken and my faith is small. I often pray for Him to:
- Multiply my tiny bit of faith into bigger faith – and He always does
- Multiply my small desire for more of Him into an insatiable hunger for Him – and He always does
- Multiply my tiny bit of love for a challenging friend or family member into a greater love – and He always does.
If you are weary
today because your “bait-offering” doesn’t appear to be enough to offer to the
King of Kings, take heart. Search your
heart, and give Him what you have. Then watch Him turn that sad, broken, wimpy offering into the miraculous. He is faithful!
Melissa is an itinerant speaker/teacher, blogger and author residing in the South. She is single (although she prefers the term “unclaimed treasure”) and lives with her two children, Henry and Hannah, who are “technically” canine (ssshhhh… they don’t know they aren’t human). Her vision and passion for ministry is to shepherd others to the grace, hope, healing, and restoration found only in Jesus Christ! Through her own life journey, God has transformed her heart, and she has experienced the true meaning of “beauty from ashes”.
You can connect with Melissa through her web site, at www.infieldsofgrace.com.
