"What Should I Do Now?"

Listen & Follow His Direction

Luke 5:5-7 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

We left off in the last message with Simon telling his Master how he had been fishing all night long and hadn't caught anything but he said that he would let the net down as Jesus had requested.

This next verse gives us a good example of what happens when we follow through with the request of God in our lives. The fish that filled their nets beyond their capacity were an example to Simon and to us all of how the Lord works in and through us when we will listen to His voice and no matter how long we have tried on our own, the Lord has the power to bring the hardest to catch fish right into our net! Isn't that what happened here? Simon was an experienced fisherman. He had others working for him as we see in verse six where it says "when they had done this". It was Simon that Jesus spoke to but he had others to help put the net into the water. This is a good sign that Simon had been doing this for a while.

Sometimes our experience and our God given talents and gifts are not even necessary to perform the will of God in our lives. Sure, God uses the gifts that He has blessed us with but we must remember where the gift came from. Our Lord doesn't leave us when things aren't going well. Our Lord is always there and sometimes he is just waiting for us to turn our ear his way to hear his instruction. this allows him to show us his awesome power and blessing on our life.

Let's look at a place in the book of Kings were Elijah was hiding from the Jezebel the queen because Ahab had reported some things to her that Elijah had done in his stand for what was right in God's eyes. There were many who had bowed to the false god Baal and had kissed this statue, but Elijah was one of the seven thousand who refused to do so and who stood for what they believed!

In this passage we find Elijah staying in a cave after hiking through the wilderness having not really eaten meat for forty days. Once again, as with Simon, he was tired and hungry when the voice of God came to him. Let's look at how God had told Elijah to go stand on the mountain of the Lord at Horeb and it is there that the Lord passed by him and we will see what happened next,

1Kings 19:11-13 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

The LORD wasn't in the wind, the earthquake or the fire but in the still small voice. Our LORD was reminding Elijah that it isn't what you see around you that matters the most. It is the voice of our LORD that has the power to change our lives forever! Elijah was hiding for his life and doing a pretty good job of it but he seemed to have taken it upon himself to protect himself and hide. I know that I have found myself standing up and defending my image or my flesh at times in my life! How about you? Do you ever find your mind or flesh taking over in what we consider defence and justify your actions by this term?

Let's look at two words and I'll close this message out! In this passage I want us to see what the literal Hebrew is for the name "LORD" and understand why it is used here in all capital letters. The title "LORD" stands for Jehovah and is the Jewish national name of God. The Hebrew for this is "yhovah" and is pronounced "yeh-ho-vaw". The Hebrew word yhovah means "self Existent or eternal; Jehovah."

The second meaning I would like to look at is for the words describing the LORD in verse twelve, "a still small voice".

The Hebrew word for "still" is demâmâh
It is pronounced dem-aw-maw'
Feminine from H1826; quiet: - calm, silence, still.

The Hebrew word for "voice" is qôl qôl
It is pronounced kole, kole
From an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound: - + aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, [pro-] claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder (-ing), voice, + yell.

Using the literal Hebrew translation found in the Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, I would say that the voice of our LORD was a quiet or calm, small voice crying out to Elijah to listen. the reason is that the next verse says ,"When Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his garment and went out and stood in the entering of the cave." When the voice of our LORD JEHOVAH speaks, we will know it regardless of the storms, the earthquakes and the fire (elements and circumstances) in our lives at the time. Our JEHOVAH's voice is unmistakable but we must be willing to listen.

Elijah listened and the LORD gave him his direction and all he needed to do it in the passages to follow!


As we go to worship our Lord God Almighty today at our places of worship, let us remember to go with a Spirit of willingness. Let us go worship and praise God with a willingness to listen to his voice and to do whatever request he utters with faith, believing that God always knows what's best!

Please join me in taking time alone today to listen for the still small voice of our JEHOVAH.

Oh my God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, As we go today in faith, though we have toiled all night, give us your message that we may do as you would request of us to do and see your wondrous works performed in and through us by your Holy Spirit! Amen.