Prayer To Be Trusting Even Though We Are Tired

 Tired

Many people are attributing the surge in new covid-19 virus cases to a tiredness in people around all the new limitations and practices required to keep the virus at bay.  People are tired of staying home, of staying apart, of not being able to do things that they enjoy with those they enjoy doing them with.  We’ve seen pictures here in Canada of large groups of people at car rallies in a couple of cities – no masks – no physical distancing – way more people than regulations allow. 

While we may feel frustrated by these kinds of gatherings, there are ways that most of us are not as careful as we could be.  We forget a mask but go to the store anyway.  We meet up with someone we haven’t seen in a while and don’t maintain physical distancing.  We only meet within the required 6 people but the folks we are with one time are not necessarily those we are with the next time.  Things have seemed this way a very long time without results that we were hoping for.

I was thinking these days of a story that’s recorded in the Gospels.  Jesus’ disciples had been fishing all night.  They were professionals who knew where to fish, what to do to be successful, when to put the nets in and pull them out.  And yet, all night and no fish.  Now they were washing their nets.  They are tired.  They want to go home and sleep. They were done.

Jesus asks to get into a boat so he can teach the large group of people who have gathered.  When he’s done teaching he speaks to Peter and tells him,  “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”   Now Jesus is a carpenter, not a fisherman.  Peter’s response to Jesus is probably about the same kind of response we’d have:

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing.

Peter’s tired.  He’s been up all night.  He and his colleagues have done everything they could.  About the last thing he wants to do is to go out on a fruitless fishing trip again and have to put in the nets, pull out the nets, and wash up the nets again before their long day is over.  It really seems pointless to him.  It’s been enough. 

But, then the point comes where Peter realizes something.  He doesn’t even know Jesus all that well yet.  These are early days before they’ve all seen the miracles Jesus can do in so many circumstances.  But, there is something about the Lord that has touched Peter and so even though he’s tired and wants to be done with it all he says:

“But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

We know the end of the story.  They caught so many fish their nets almost broke and they had to get their partners in the next boat to help them.

Lord, help us today to listen to You.  We want to be faithful to do the things we should do but when we run out of ideas, energy, desire, even willingness, please strengthen us to have faith that You have solutions and if we will just pay attention to what You tell us to do, we will be blessed to overflowing. 

You are the Lord.  You created the heavens and the earth and everything in them.  You know how things work and You can operate in supernatural ways that bring blessing to our ordinary circumstances.  We have no idea how many times we’ve been blessed in this way but we know it’s been more times than we have recognized.

So now, in this long and difficult season of the pandemic that seems to go on without end and where we don’t really know and officials perhaps also don’t totally know what to do as numbers seem to spiral perilously close to out-of-control again, we pause to remember that You, the Lord of heaven and earth are with us. You have a way forward for us, a way of care and blessing.

You tell us:  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10

That’s what we are pausing to do today – to remember that You are in control.  You are with us.  You are working – maybe behind the scenes out of sight from what we can see but You are active.  As surely as You helped people like Peter through an impossible scenario, You are with us today to help us.  Come and work Your plan in our troubled times and our challenging circumstances. 

Enlarge our faith, even before we see the solutions, that when You tell us to:

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Psalm 50:15

You are good to Your word.  You will deliver and we will honour You because of what we see take place.  We don’t know specifics today any more than Peter knew specifics when they went out on the water to throw in their nets once again but You are trustworthy and Your words are life for us.  Our lives are in Your hands today and going forward, for as long as it takes.  Amen