Launch

I am not a morning person, but God has proven that He is.

Saturday, December 1^st, I woke up around 5:30 am. I was unhappy to say the least. I woke up and could not go back to sleep. In most instances like this, I ask the Holy Spirit if He has something He would like to say to me. On this particular morning, I heard nothing. So, I was like hmmm what am I going to do since I cannot sleep. By this time, I had decided I was going to launch the website on December 15^th. I had nothing set in stone beyond the date. So, in the wee hours of the morning, I took the time to start working on the launch. I had never taken much time to consider what “launching” actually meant. But this morning, December 1^st at 5:30 am, the Holy Spirit compelled me to look up the definition of launch. I obeyed.

To launch means to set (a boat) in motion by pushing it

As I read the definition, a light bulb went off in my head and that morning I created and sent the invitations for the website launch. The invitation was basic and did not detail much. It simply said, “Launch” (to many people’s chagrin). However, though I had that aha moment I still did not get why God led me in this way. I still did not have a full grasp of why God had me stuck on the word. Why “launch”? That’s vague. Why not something more specific?

I would learn more the next Saturday morning around 5 am. Lol.

To my knowledge, the word “launch” is only used one time in the Bible. In fact, the one time it is used is when Jesus calls his first disciples. In Luke 5, we see Jesus teaching the word of God near the sea and a crowd of people surrounds Him to listen to His teachings. Rather than standing in the midst of them, He chooses a boat belonging to Simon (aka Peter). He asked Peter to push a little from shore and teaches the people from the boat.

“When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” – Luke 5:4 NKJV

“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 5:5-6 NKJV

Jesus told Peter to push his boat out into the deep. When I think of the deep, I think of the great unknown or unchartered territory. Peter, by trade, was a fisherman so he was equipped to fish. Jesus did not ask him to do something he was not equipped to do. In fact, it would have been odd if Jesus asked Peter to build a workbench or go collect taxes because Peter was not a carpenter or a tax collector. Instead, Jesus used what Peter was familiar with to teach him about his future in the kingdom.

There was a connection between Peter’s expertise and what Jesus asked him to do.

Jesus just had him do it differently. Jesus had him do what he was skilled in from a place of faith. What is Jesus asking you to do differently? Just as God used what Peter knew to show him what he would do in the Spirit. God uses what we know to show us what we will do in the Spirit.

What has He tasked you with? Are you a stay at home mom? He’ll use that. A business owner? He’ll use that. A student? Oh, He’ll definitely use that. Working a 9 to 5? He’ll use that too. If you have not noticed, Jesus uses everyday principles and tasks to teach us about the kingdom of heaven. He always has and He always will. We just have to pay attention.

Peter had a willing spirit.

Faith is believing God at His Word, sight unseen. When Jesus commanded Peter launch out, launching out defied his previous experience. Remember, Peter and his crew had been toiling all night trying to catch fish, but they did not have any success. Imagine how hard that must have been, working diligently at something for hours and hours and then someone telling you to go do it again. How frustrating!

Let’s be like Peter who took Jesus at His Word and moved forward despite his previous circumstances. He gave fishing for the day another shot. Though he did not understand, he trusted Jesus. He launched out in faith.

I know this is not for all of you, but I believe the Holy Spirit is convicting some of us right now. You know who you are. Some of us have been so traumatized by the failures of our past that we vowed we would never try again. We determined in our own strength that we would go another route, but I believe God is saying, “Do it again, but with me this time.” Ouch!

Provision is in the movement.

If Peter had not moved, Jesus would not have performed the miracle. I wholeheartedly believe that many of us have missed God’s provision because we have refused to move forward on the dreams He has given us. Often, we fail to move because of fear and lack of faith.

But God has always acted in conjunction with our movement. The choice to take the first step shows God that we believe He will act on our behalf. Let’s look at Moses and the Israelites. We love to quote the first part of the scripture that states, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.” We fail to realize that God did not say that, Moses did. God said the opposite. God told the people to move.

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.

Raise your staff and stretch out your handover the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. Exodus 14:13-16 NIV

So, let’s break this down even further, because there is a pattern here. One that spans from the Old Testament to the New Testament. When God speaks and we move, God moves. I learn by writing and drawing things out. So below, I provided you with a cuter printable version of the visual the Holy Spirit gave me. Use this card as a reminder that God will move when you move by faith.