He Calls You Capable
Do you ever feel incapable, unworthy, or unwanted? Those are all normal feelings as a human. There is not one person that has not struggled with at least one of these feelings. We live in a world full of people seeking for approval from one another, trying to feel good enough, valued, and accepted. But here is the good news: Jesus calls you capable, worthy, wanted, valued, and accepted! He loves you unconditionally despite our flaws and what may feel like incapablitites. You are capable because He calls you capable.
Luke 5:4-11 says “And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word, I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”
Worthless to Capable
What if we positioned ourselves as the net and Jesus as the one casting us out into the deep end? Because without Jesus, we’re just a net. A bundle rope tangled at the bottom of the boat, but He calls us capable and gives us value by casting us out knowing that we will catch something. Notice the passage says the “deep end” and not the shallow end. There is no need to test the waters, He wants us to jump right in and trust Him that He is going to provide for our desires and needs. He wants to get us to the point where we can’t do it without Him. This is when we really put our faith into action. It’s so easy to get caught in our feelings of not being enough, but He is calling us into His capabilities.
As you read in Matthew, you see that the net caught so many fish that the nets began to break. God will not let you break, but He promises an abundance of goodness when you let Him use you to your full capability. Get this: The fish they caught in their nets didn’t benefit just them, but also the people around them because the fish are sold for the use of livelihood and for the use of food. In our lives the fish can represent people, finances, responsibilities, relationships, and/or our future calling. Which don’t just benefit us, but also the people around us.
So why do we doubt the Lord’s plans when we know He is good? Why do we worry about tomorrow? It clearly says in Matthew 6:34 that tomorrow can worry about itself. In Matthew 14:22-33 it talks about Jesus walking on the water. The disciples had their doubts if it was actually Jesus and even thought He was a ghost.
Matthew 14:28-33
“Then Peter cried out from the boat ‘Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ Jesus said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the son of God.’”
The Capability to Step Out
Jesus made Peter capable of walking on the water, but it took faith for Peter to trust in Him. That’s why he told Peter to come to him. It takes a big step of faith to follow Jesus in what He’s called us to do. As humans, we like to think we are incapable of doing the impossible because it’s unknown what could happen and sometimes uncomfortable. But with Jesus we are fully capable. Just like Peter, he doubted that he could actually walk on water with Jesus, which resulted in him sinking. Yet again Jesus picked him up. Just like the nets. Although others may have looked and thought they were worthless nets. But Jesus saw that he could do something with them. He can do something with you! He calls you capable even when you or others around you might not.
How BIG Is Your Faith?
There have been so many times that we’ve doubted the Lord’s goodness because of how unworthy we see ourselves. There have been many instances that He’s called us to do something, and all we needed to do was be cast out into the deep, or to step out into the water. We’ve sunk countless times because of our human doubts, but He continued to pick us up and pull us to safety. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. You are capable of what Jesus called you to do, otherwise, He wouldn’t have called you to do it.
What if we choose to not set onto the water? What if we choose to stay at the bottom of the boat? God will still use you, but imagine what could happen if you let the all powerful God ,who knows you better than you know yourself, use you in his power. What if you let Him make you more capable than you could ever imagine? He will meet you where you’re at. He will use you to your capability no matter where you go. You are capable because He calls you capable.
If you want to step out of the boat and trust God, a DTS is a great option for you! Or if you’ve already done a DTS, maybe your next step out of the boat is to do an SFM and really dive deep into looking into long term missions. Pray about it and if you have any questions we’d love to get in touch with you. Blessings!