Articles
Patience
Every time the word patience is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is fishing. For so long it has been used as a metaphor for patience in life, and in many ways it has helped teach that lesson. In life, it feels for so long we are sitting waiting and hoping for a glimmer of good as we stare into the great beyond, not knowing what our future holds--just as a fisherman stares into the blue abyss waiting for a nibble. The fish in this metaphor can signify desires or needs; it could be corporeal in nature or intangible.
People still have a good day fishing even if there were no fish caught. As the fisherman is patiently clinging to the hope that today will be the day his good thing comes along, he realizes that the experience never truly was about whether he caught the fish today or not. The experience was about the fact that he tried his hardest, despite not obtaining what he wanted, and that he at least for one day in his life had faith and hope in something good happening--not to mention realizing the fact that he spent an entire day of never truly being alone because he was surrounded by the water, nature, his thoughts, and possibly even good company.
Hebrews 11 accounts for many examples of biblical souls who lived their days with faith such as Rahab, Abraham and the prophets to name a few. These men and women, as it says at the end of the chapter, were not immediately given or given at all what they had been promised in this life because God had a better plan. It is hard, but we must do our best to trust that God makes sure we are never alone or living without a better purpose in mind.
As Romans 8 explains, this better plan is to be saved by bringing us to heaven and conforming us to the image of His Son. There is no greater purpose, and this world ultimately puts our faith in that purpose to the test. But as it is written, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” This is how we know that we are not alone and that we have the strength to live in faith according to God’s purpose and not the purpose of this temporary world.
In essence the biggest fish we could ever hope to catch is God and His Word. Each day we must ask ourselves, "Am I staying strong in hope and faith?" Are we trying to seek out God and what he teaches? As long as we keep faith and keep asking ourselves these questions, then no matter the hardships, in the end we will have a beautiful experience fishing.
