00:00Hey friends, you know, there are moments in the Bible that are so unusual, if you really
00:08picture them in your head, you almost have to smile.
00:12One of my favorites happens in Matthew 17.
00:16Peter comes into the house and before he even gets a chance to explain the situation, Jesus
00:24already knows what he's thinking about.
00:27Apparently, somebody has asked Peter whether Jesus pays the temple tax.
00:34Peter answers yes.
00:36Then Jesus gives Peter instructions that sound nothing like the kind of financial advice you
00:44would expect.
00:45He basically tells him, go fishing, catch the first fish, open its mouth, there will be a
00:55coin inside.
00:56Use that coin to pay the tax for the both of us.
01:00Now, imagine being Peter.
01:03Peter has already seen Jesus do incredible things, perform miracles and so on.
01:12He had seen storms stop.
01:15He had seen sick people healed.
01:17He had watched thousands of people eat from a tiny amount of food.
01:22Still, there had to be a moment when Peter thought, you want me to look where?
01:33You know, most of us check the couch cushions when we need extra money.
01:38Jesus sent Peter to check a fish.
01:43And that strange little story contains one of my favorite lessons about following Jesus
01:50Jesus Christ.
01:53God does not always provide in the way that you would expect.
01:57Sometimes, he provides through something already familiar to you.
02:02Now, Peter was a fisherman.
02:05Jesus did not tell Peter to become an accountant.
02:09He did not tell him to start a new company by Friday.
02:13He did not hand Peter a 30-page financial strategy.
02:19He told a fisherman to fish.
02:23Now, there's something comforting about that.
02:27I love it.
02:28Sometimes, when we're worried about the future, we assume the answer must be complicated.
02:34We think we need some enormous breakthrough.
02:38We need the perfect opportunity.
02:41We need somebody important to discover us.
02:45We need a dramatic change.
02:50Meanwhile, God may already be working through something sitting right in front of us.
02:56That happens to me all the time.
02:58You know, look back over your past.
03:01How many times were you looking outside of your current circumstance, and it was already
03:06in front of your face?
03:08You know, God will work through us.
03:11Maybe it's a skill we already have, a relationship we've already built, an opportunity.
03:17We've overlooked, a door we assumed was too ordinary.
03:23Peter probably woke up that morning thinking fishing was just fishing.
03:30He had no idea one fish was about to carry his entire tax payment.
03:37That is worth remembering.
03:40I want you to think about this.
03:42Maybe you do not always know what God has placed inside the ordinary parts of our lives.
03:49Maybe you're sitting at work right now, wondering why you are still here.
03:56Maybe you have been doing the same job for years.
04:00Maybe you're taking care of children and wondering whether anything important is happening.
04:07Maybe you're helping an aging parent.
04:09Maybe you're building something slowly while watching other people seem to move much faster.
04:17It's easy to assume God only works through dramatic moments.
04:22But Jesus, well, Jesus constantly used ordinary things.
04:42Jesus could turn the most normal object in somebody's day into part of a lesson they would remember forever.
04:50I imagine Peter walking toward the water after Jesus gave him those instructions.
04:58He probably took his fishing equipment with him.
05:02But I wonder what was going through his mind.
05:06What if I catch the wrong fish?
05:09What if there is no coin?
05:11What if I open the fish's mouth and the fish is just as confused as I am?
05:19Peter still had to cast the line.
05:22Now that matters.
05:24Think about that.
05:25Jesus promised provision.
05:28But Peter still had to take action.
05:32He had to walk to the water.
05:34He had to throw the line.
05:37He had to wait.
05:38He had to pull the fish in.
05:41Then he had to do something most fishermen probably do not normally do.
05:47Check the mouth for money.
05:51You know, faith often works like that, though, doesn't it?
05:55I just love the way God works.
05:58You know, we pray for God to open a door.
06:00But sometimes we still have to walk down the hallway.
06:05Anyway, we pray for employment, but we still have to send the application.
06:13We pray for healing in a relationship, but we may still need to make the phone call.
06:20We pray for direction, but eventually we have to take a step.
06:25You know, Peter could have sat in the house and said,
06:30Jesus, I completely believe there's a coin in that fish.
06:35Wonderful.
06:36But the tax would still not have been paid.
06:40At some point, Peter had to go fishing.
06:46That's, you know, another part of the story that I love, because Jesus provided enough for the both of them.
06:54Not just Peter.
06:56Not just Jesus.
06:59Both.
07:00The exact need was covered.
07:03And you know what?
07:05Sometimes we become so worried about tomorrow that we forget how many times God has already carried us through yesterday.
07:14Think about some of the things you once worried would destroy you.
07:20You know what?
07:21You're still here.
07:23You have probably survived days you thought you could never handle alone.
07:29You've made it through disappointments you never wanted.
07:34You've lost things.
07:36You've rebuilt things.
07:38You've cried.
07:39You've started again.
07:41And somehow, here you are.
07:44You reached today.
07:46That does not mean that every problem disappears, does it?
07:51You know, Jesus never promised a life without difficulty.
07:55Peter eventually faced challenges far greater than that tax bill.
08:02But this strange moment with the fish gave Peter another reminder.
08:09Jesus knew what Peter needed before Peter even explained the problem.
08:16Now, that might be the most comforting part of the entire story for me, because remember how it begins.
08:24Peter walks into the house.
08:26Jesus speaks first.
08:29Peter had not yet explained everything.
08:32Jesus already knew.
08:35And if you're carrying something tonight that you have barely been able to put into words,
08:41I want you to remember that.
08:44Jesus does not need a perfect explanation.
08:48You do not have to organize your thoughts before you pray.
08:52You do not need a presentation.
08:56You don't need bullet points.
08:58And you don't need to begin with,
09:01Lord, as discussed in our previous meeting,
09:05He already knows.
09:08Tell Him anyway.
09:09Prayer is not about giving God information that He missed.
09:14Prayer is about bringing your heart into the conversation.
09:18Maybe the answer will come the way you expect.
09:22Maybe it won't.
09:24Peter probably expected the tax payment to come from a pocket.
09:29Jesus put it in a fish.
09:33That's the humor and the hope of this story.
09:38God is not limited to the solution you have already imagined.
09:42The answer can come from somewhere you never thought to look.
09:47The opportunity can come through somebody you never expected to meet.
09:52The next chapter, well, that can begin in a place that you thought was ordinary.
09:58And sometimes, the thing God asks you to do next may seem ridiculously simple.
10:07Hey, Doug, why don't you buy a camera on Amazon and start a YouTube channel?
10:14Friends, cast the line.
10:17Make the call.
10:19Send the application.
10:21Write the page.
10:23Apologize.
10:24Try again.
10:26Show up tomorrow.
10:28You may not see the coin yet.
10:31You see, Peter did not see it when he started walking toward the water either.
10:37He simply trusted Jesus enough to cast the line.
10:43And somewhere beneath the surface, there was already a fish swimming around with an answer in its mouth.
10:52So if you're worried tonight, my friend, I want you to remember Peter.
10:59Remember the fishing line.
11:02Remember the fish.
11:04Remember the coin.
11:06And most importantly, remember Jesus.
11:11He knew the need before Peter explained it.
11:15He knew where the provision was before Peter could see it.
11:20And he knew exactly what Peter needed to do next.
11:25Maybe you do not need to understand the whole plan today.
11:29Maybe you just need enough faith to cast the next line.
11:35And who knows?
11:37Your answer might already be swimming toward you.
11:42I love that story.
11:45Friends, my name is Douglas Vandergraaf and I believe in Jesus Christ.
11:50God bless every single one of you.
11:54Every single one.
11:57Including everyone you love.
12:01Bye-bye.
Comments