Best Fishing

The following is my paraphrase of a story told by Gene Apple of Willow Creek Church at a conference recently. The story illustrates why it is important to endure the difficulties that go along with change.

"My family and I take a fishing trip to the same lake every year. I've been fishing here since I was a boy, and on the lake I have a favorite fishing spot. The problem is, the place where we have to put our fishing boat on the water is 20 miles from our cabin. So we get up early, drive the 20 miles to the lake, and put the boat on the water. Once we're on the water, we have to go to the other side of the lake, dodging skiers, swimmers, and other lake traffic. On the far side of the lake is a little channel. The channel is about 100 yards long and only about 5 feet wide. The water is covered with lily pads, and tall willow trees line both sides of the channel. It is slow going, but our fishing boat just fits through the channel. As we travel down the channel, the water gets increasingly shallow, and we must raise the motor on the boat. And as we go farther along, the water gets even more shallow, to the point where the motor has to be completely out of the water. From there, we use oars to row ourselves along, but eventually the water gets so shallow the boat actually hits ground. The last 50 feet my family gets out of the boat and carries me...no, we all get out, and we actually carry the boat the rest of the way. And it's hard work! By the end of the channel, we're all very tired. But, the lake on the other side is beautiful, and the fishing is good! We always come back with buckets and buckets of great fish. Why don't more people fish this side of the lake? Because, getting there is very difficult. Is it worth it? You better believe it's worth it!

For many of us, the Christian life is much like this. It's a struggle to serve others, it's hard to reach out to people different than us. It takes a lot of work to care about people far from God, and we often get hurt when we make ourselves vulnerable and available. Change is never easy, yet we may need to change our methods, our styles, or our ministry practices to reach out to more people. The deeper we get, the harder the struggles seem to be.

But - is it worth it? Yes! you better believe it's worth it!"