There Are No Fish Under The Ice

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5 & 6 (KJV)

A small boy really wanted to go ice fishing, but couldn’t wait for his daddy to take him.  So he got his rod, bait, stool, thermos and made for the ice.  He got comfortable on his stool and began to make a circular cut in the ice.  Suddenly a voice from the sky boomed, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
Startled, he moved further down the ice and began to cut a hole there.  Again from above a voice boomed, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
A bit worried now, the boy moved clear to the opposite end of the ice and tried once again to cut a hole.  The voice came once more, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
The wee boy stopped, looked skyward and asked in a small voice, “Is that you, Lord?”  The voice replied, “NO, THIS IS THE MANAGER OF THE HOCKEY RINK!”

If we are not careful, Christians can be like that small boy.  We so eagerly want to go ‘fishing for men’ that we don’t wait for God’s lead, but get out there and begin make big plans that fizzle out and don’t draw people to God or into Church.  John 6:44 (NIV) says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”   Only God can draw people–he is the manager of the ice rink, and knows when there are no fish under the ice.  Instead, he can lead us to the real pond where the fish are hungry and waiting, but we need to follow his lead.  Proverbs 16:1-3 (KJV) says, “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”  And verse 9, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

Thomas Edison said genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.  Both are needed for success.   St.Ignatius Loyola put it another way:  “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”

Prayer
Help us to follow your lead in our efforts to go fishing, acknowledging that you are the master fisher and manager of the fishing expedition.  Please direct our steps to that we don’t end up in fruitless activity where there are no fish under the ice!
Amen

Study by Nancy Silcox