NEVERTHELESS
“And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”–Luke 5:5
I suspect there are some folks reading this who feel that their efforts have been in vain and that they might as well give up, but don’t do it! Appearances can be deceiving. It is not our place to question the outcome of our labor, but to simply obey our Lord. That always pays off. Consider what J. H. Jowett said many years ago of this event:
Here is obedience in spite of the night of failure. “Nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down the net.” That word “nevertheless” has always made history. It has been spoken after scourgings, after “bonds and imprisonments.” Ten thousand times has it been heard in the chamber of bereavement, the first sound to break the awful silence. “At evening my wife died…. In the morning I did as God commanded me.” And may it be true of me! May my “nevertheless” of willing obedience rise like a lark above the storm.
And because there was obedience there came vision. In the wonderful answer to his faith Peter beheld the glory of his Lord. And so I never know where the unenticing road of obedience will lead me. At the end of the dull road there will be some gracious surprise! It is the rugged path which leads to the summit! The panorama comes as the reward of the toilsome climb! Always, in the realm of the Spirit, the dogged “nevertheless” will lead to the “shining tableland to which our God Himself is moon and sun.”
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
