Pier Fishing 101

'Come near to God and He will come near to you.' (James 4:8)

I know the title sounds a little strange….maybe even a little secular, but I assure you that God is in this!

Last weekend my husband took me fishing. Not just regular old fishing, like I had always done in the past.  No, it was pier fishing. Something I had never ever done before, and for which I had no innate sense of what it was. I only knew my husband does it with other men, and he always comes home with a passle of fish.

This all came about because Chuck had been at the beach the week before on one of those trips. He was the driver of the church van, and in his haste to get everyone packed up and loaded  for the drive home that Sunday, he left his own keys on the dresser. He did not realize this until they had arrived back in the church parking lot.

To make a long story short, Chuck decided this was a sign from God that we were to have a weekend away together. So we made plans to stay at the same house and we went down for a weekend of 'key retrieval', but more importantly, pier fishing.

Now it does not take much to get me to the beach. I love it! But i did not realize that even in early November there would be this wind….

It was horrible. Even though I had bundled up at Chuck's urging, and even though I was excited with this new adventure, I sure had not counted on freezing to death while trying to catch the smallest fish I can remember seeing outside of a goldfish bowl.

Anyway, we got there in the dark. I suffered for six long hours. The wind was relentless. I was feeling hopeless and lost and just plain tortured. I was not even thinking about God or godly things. I was wondering how I would survive.

Until I saw the sun. It was gorgeous. This huge, fiery, orange ball, with it's pink glow overpowering the dark, gray, cloudy horizon, totally ensnared my attention. I forgot being cold. I forgot feeling hopeless. I even forgot that I don't even like to eat fish all that much. But what I did not forget, what I was sharply reminded of, was God's presence.  In the midst of my suffering, He was showing me His power, His grace, His love.

All of a sudden I was enveloped in warmth, in peace, and in awe. For never have I realized so intensely  the glory of God's creation. He gave us the oceans, the mountains, the plains, and the sunrises and sunsets. His presence abounds all around us. We just have to open our eyes to see Him. He is everywhere. And because of that, we are filled with hope, with peace, and with an incredible joy that will shine through us.

Yes, I was still cold and tired the rest of that day. And I am in no hurry to pier fish again, at least not until I can wear shorts and a T-shirt. But, I am not sorry I went. My husband and I both were blessed by the experience. And while I only caught two fish, and he caught 59, I know without a doubt that God was there, and He knew that I needed  this reminder of His faithfulness, and a generous dose of His grace.

Lessons learned are precious indeed.

Now class is out, but what I brought home with me is priceless. Be blessed and look at God…He is right outside your window….you don't have to freeze on a pier to see Him!