"For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken." Luke 5:9

Peter and the other fisherman had spent the entire night fishing without catching a thing. Then along came Jesus needing to use their boat. For just a little while that simple fisherman's boat was transformed into the Master teacher's lectern from which Jesus taught the people. When he was done he instructed them to let down their nets for a "draught"--that's the old English word for a big catch! Obviously Peter thought there was a good possibility that this would be a futile exercise, but then why not? After all, it was Jesus who said to do it! The result was such a large catch that their nets nor the boat could handle it! Peter and all those with him were astonished.

A few observations:

• God is not limited by our inability to accomplish something on our own. In fact, this is His perfect opportunity to show Himself mighty to us.
• God isn't looking for the grandest and the best to use for his purposes. He is satisfied with a humble boat because He is not dependent on our resources.
• God blesses those who are willing to be used...blessings far above our expectations.
• Like Peter and the others, we are often surprised by the magnitude of God's blessings, and we are forced to recognize God's greatness and our own insignificance.

This week has been a good one. Malcom has slowly gained strength each day and we recognize that God is helping him. This Sunday he will be preaching in St. Charles, Missouri. We anticipate that God will use a modest vessel to accomplish something great.

We are praising God for blessings in Taiwan. This Sunday, Dante--one of the young preachers in Dali Faith Baptist Church--will be baptizing a couple of new converts. It is exciting for us to see how God is growing our church there. We shouldn't be surprised!