Run, Run, Run, But Getting Nowhere

"When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' But Simon answered and said to him, 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.' And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.'" Luke 5:4-6 Have you toiled for a very long time and produced little? What made the difference in the story of Simon's fish catch? Well ...all his efforts the entire night returned nothing, but when the Lord spoke, it changed everything. Who is in charge of your works? If you're spinning your wheels and getting no results, that may indicate that you are in charge, not the Lord. "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING." John 15:5 Jesus has laid out for us two principles in the above passages. First, spinning our wheels will not produce lasting fruit. Lots of activity will not produce. Work, work, work, will not produce. Simon had labored all night long and did not produce. So what DOES produce? Only that which originates in God. When he speaks a word to you, or opens a door for you to serve him, you can be sure that your work WILL produce, whether you see the results or not. That which originates in God's directions cannot fail. If God ordains it, it will succeed. The second principle he lays out is that it depends on ABIDING in him. Do you run, run, run? Friend, it's not in the running. It has to be in the abiding. How much TIME do you spend with the Lord? Do you have a prayer time every morning? Are you feeding every day in his Word, the Scriptures he has provided for our nourishment? Or is your life so busy that you just don't have TIME for that? If you don't have time to ABIDE with him in intimate conversation with him, in prayer, in worship, in thanksgiving, and in feeding daily in his Word, then don't expect any lasting fruit from your labor - because you're not abiding in him, you're spinning your wheels. It's hard to submit our works to the Lord, we'd rather just do whatever is in our heart to do, hoping we'll do some good. Better, friend, to go to the Lord FIRST, and seek to know from him what HE would have you do. First thing in the morning, consecrate your day to him, and consecrate yourself to him, putting yourself at HIS service, not the other way around. If you will take the TIME, it will make all the difference in the world. Your boat will be so filled with fish that your net will be strained. Without HIM, you can do nothing. But WITH him, there is no limit to what can be produced. Pray with me: Father God, I know I spin my wheels trying to get everything done that I think should be done, yet so much of it is fruitless. It's hard to seek you out FIRST, and to wait on your directions because in our fallen human natures we are proud and self-willed. I stand before the Throne of Grace and ask for a right heart before you, a surrendered heart, a heart open to receive what you will say to me even if it's something I'd rather not hear, because of what use is anything if you're not behind it? Father, help me to prioritize my time so that you come FIRST, and not just as an afterthought. Help me to truly understand, Lord, that it all has to come from YOU, not from me, and that when it DOES come from you, the rewards will be greater than I had any idea. I surrender all to you Lord, and I'm waiting on you for your direction in my day, and in my life. In Jesus's Name, I pray.