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Fish on a Hook

Have you ever gone fishing? I used to fish with my dad when we would go to Lake Arrowhead in California. I remember one time my sister and I were fishing on opposite sides of the dock. We were back-to-back. We both felt a tug on our lines and began to reel in. After fervently reeling and not getting anywhere, we finally realized we hadn't caught a fish. Instead, we caught each other. Our lines were tangled. I have since continued the fishing tradition with my boys. I love sitting on the dock with them, poles in the water. They love to play with the worms but don't especially like stabbing them with a hook, so I usually have to bate their hooks. Most of the time, we are unsuccessful and don't catch a thing. But, when we do, the boys go wild when they see that fish flopping out of the water.

Have you ever seen a fish on a hook as it's being pulled from the water? That thing goes crazy flipping and flopping all over the place; gasping for air. The more it moves, the more it struggles to breath. It can be quite disturbing if you don't get that hook out and the fish back in the water fast enough.

We are that fish. God's got his hook in us. He is desperately trying to catch us but we continue to thrash around. We gasp for air panicking. We move this way and that trying to free ourselves from the hook only digging it in deeper. We don't realize that he's caught us. We don't see that he wants to free us. Instead, we push and pull with all our might fighting against the hook.

After a while, we are so worn out we tend to give up. No more trying to escape the hold of the hook. Instead, we lay there still and defeated not knowing that freedom awaits us the moment we are still.

If you have ever tried to get a hook out of a fish, you know it's not easy. The more the fish thrashes, the more difficult it is. Once the fish surrenders, however, the hook comes out easily.

Surrender.


The moment we surrender to God, he can release us. He never let's go of us completely. However, he releases us to live fully with him the moment we surrender to his grip. Once we stop flailing, we experience freedom.

"And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10

Surrender takes trust. Just as the fish doesn't trust the fisherman (I mean, why would a fish trust a fisherman? He may get eaten.), we don't trust God. When we don't trust God, trusting that he will set us free, we batter, thump, and hammer around fighting profusely against the grip of God.

What we don't realize, is that when we relax, surrender, and let go, we are released into freedom as a fish is released back into the stream. Imagine what that fish may feel the moment he is released from the hook and back into the water. I am sure he is high-finning his buddies celebrating his newfound freedom appreciating his surroundings a bit more.

The more we fight, the more we try to pull away from God's grip, the deeper the hook sinks. And, if you are like me, that doesn't feel very good. We experience a lot of thrashing and a whole lot of pain that could be avoided had we calmed down and surrendered to his grip.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8

Take refuge in him. Stop thrashing around. You are only causing yourself pain. Trust him in your surrender.

"All to Jesus, I surrender. I surrender all."

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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