OnFire #129 More Lobster Fishing Lessons
Hi Folks:
I was lobster fishing again this week. The weather started out fine, with the wind rising through the day. More on that below.
Mark, in grade 6, received his report card last week and did very well also. He received all “E” (excellent) and “VG” (very good).
All else is relatively quiet. That’s not a bad thing.
Blessings for your week.
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I’m back on land after a day of lobster fishing on Monday. I like to take a few days each year to help a friend set his lobster traps in the fall and take them up in the spring. So, on Monday I got up extra early on my day off and went to the wharf to meet him at his boat because it was dumping day.
Dumping day is one of the most exciting days of the year for a lobster fisherman. No one sleeps well, and everyone arrives early to make last minute checks. Dozens of diesel engines rumble while crew chat and family members take pictures. At 7am, everyone sails out of port and the work of setting the traps begins.
There is something I love about this and I could give you a dozen reasons why I volunteer to help. The sunrise. Being on the water. The hard, honest work. The satisfaction of putting the traps into the water. Seeing the pile of traps shrink as the day progresses. Helping a friend. Meeting new people. Being part of a group all doing the same thing.
Even though there are parts of lobster fishing that I love, every time I go out I remember why I am glad God gave me a job on land. By 11 o’clock we were “outside,” (beyond the shelter of the land) and the wind had “breezed up.” A few hours of rolling and pounding caused an emergency evacuation of my stomach. As I clutched the rail and tossed breakfast to the fish, I silently thanked God I didn’t agree to go for more than one day.
There is nothing like an unpleasant situation to make us rethink who we are and what we are doing. Fishing has confirmed my call into ministry. It only took the first 35 or 40 “blows” to make me realize that, even though ministry may be hard at times, God did not make me for fishing. Sometimes knowing what we are not cut out to do helps to clarify what we are to do.
All this leads me to a point. Unpleasant or difficult times are hard to go through, but they may also serve as opportunities and teaching points in our lives.
Sometimes we cause our own difficulty because of sin and we can use the time to consider how to avoid the problem again. I remember the time I spent two days on my hands and knees stripping wax from a floor because I messed it up. You can be sure I won’t repeat the same mistake again. As we repent and recover, we have a chance to learn how to avoid the sin again.
Sometimes a crisis makes us realize we have been mis-spending our time and energy – like the fall I looked up and realized the leaves were gone, and I didn’t even remember them turning colour. Problems can be opportunities to re-direct our lives.
Sometimes difficulties come because we got off God’s path for our lives, not necessarily in an area of moral sin, but in a wrong direction. Then we find ourselves knee-high in the bushes, wondering why the path is so hard. These times are an opportunity to refocus and realign our will with God’s.
I wish I had all the answers. There are times, however, when we don’t know why it is so hard, when explanations just don’t reveal the answer. Opposition mounts and problems rise, frustration sets in. These, too, are opportunities, chances for us to find out just how strong, loving, compassionate, and wise God really is. It seems that we often only see God’s power and strength when we come to the end of ours.
Seen in this light, difficulties are opportunities to grow closer to God. If we will trust him, we will see God working in his power through the circumstances.
I don’t always get this right. I don’t dare guess my ratio of right to wrong, but knowing this has helped me in the past. I hope it helps you.
To close, let me pass along these two verses:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him”*
2 Corinthians 12:8 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Hope this helps. Be OnFire,
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