Random Musings on Living Well

A story about a lucky fisherman

“When you leave it to chance, then all of a sudden you don’t have any more luck.” —Pat Riley, Basketball coach  

A blog on luck coming from a minister who believes strongly in the sovereignty of God may seem a little strange.  But then if you’ve been reading my blogs for a while you already have figured out that actually I am strange.  (I’m also very kind and thoughtful, so I won’t mention the implications of you having read my blogs for a while!)

But back to luck.  If it makes you more comfortable, let’s call it God’s gracious gift of “free will.”

It turns out that our actions really do matter and when we take action things happen.

This came to mind recently when I happened to overhear a conversation between two men.  Honestly, I wasn’t trying to be nosey, but they were telling fishing stories and trust me, when men starting telling fishing stories they get loud. (I actually suspect the guy telling his story wanted me to hear it. Imagine that!)

Here’s how it came down…

One guy was bragging about how he caught a fish with just a fishing hook (no bait on it).  Now I don’t know if that was true (It’s said that fishermen are known to lie) but the other guy believed him and complained, “You’re the luckiest guy I know.”

And bang, just like that the thought came to me:

It’s hard to catch fish if you don’t put the hook in the water.

The ONE THING for today: You’re a reasonable person, you know what to do with this…put the hook in the water! 

If you want to keep it spiritual or you’re the kind of person that knows about as much about fishing as you do hermeticism, then this is how “luck” works “spiritually”.

You act and then God acts. 

That’s it. You can thank me in the comment section.

Yes, I know: God’s sovereign and in control. But He is very generous in giving us the privilege of having a lot of input. 

Dare to try.  Dare to give God something to work with—even your failures can turn out well.  But if you’re doing nothing don’t expect much luck.

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pastorkemp

These are the random musings of a man whose goal is to make Jesus the paramount pursuit of my life who, while in this effort, is writing down a few lessons I've learned along the way. You'll have to decide if they are worth heeding but at least you may learn a few things not to do.

6 thoughts on “A story about a lucky fisherman”

  1. Amen sir, funny that, some 39 years ago, I went through a horrendous divorce and my wife left me and my son for another woman. My life spiraled out of control, I hung around with the wrong crowd, got involved in drugs and other nefarious activities and ended up with a long prison sentence. It did not take long to get my head on straight and realize I had squandered my life away. Determined to make the most of my time, I applied for the position of chaplain’s clerk when the position came open and since I could type 60 wpm, and was a preacher’s kid I was accepted. After only serving 2 years of my sentence an error was discovered in the sentencing and I was released on parole. Amazingly, my parole officer was spirit filled tongue talking Pentecostal member of the Full Gospel Business Men’s organization. Sure made my time on parole a lot simpler. Despite the scarlet letter F, on my chest as a convicted Felon. I was able to stay employed for 29 consecutive years, until I retired in 2016. I was afforded the opportunity to work at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX with Pastor John Hagee, had a radio program in the Dallas area on KSKY-AM 660 for 13 years, that provided the opportunity to interview various Christian Professional Athletes, including Brian McCann, Brian Jordan, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, and Paul Byrd, just to name a few. The doors that were opened for me supernaturally, were because I was willing to step out of the boat. Dr. Mark Rutland and Dr. Paul Walker at Mt. Paran COG in Atlanta back in the 1990’s imparted some wisdom to me. You will never walk on water till you step out of the boat. I thank God for his marvelous grace in providing me with a wonderful life after I so royally messed mine up.

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