Emotional Indicators

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Southeast Christian Church

Jun 8, 2023

We all experience these emotions of discouragement, fatigue, frustration, and anxiety that begin to show up when things aren’t going the way we hoped. These emotions act like your dashboard. It's not just a light, but it's telling at you that something needs your attention. The dashboard is letting you know that you can keep driving right now, but unless you do something about these things, you're going to have some pretty significant problems down the road. Right now, you can tell yourself, “I'm sure it's okay. It's probably not that big of a deal right now.” You can say to yourself, I'll probably get away with ignoring it or putting it off. But the manufacturer designed the vehicle so these lights would let you know that something needs to be addressed, and God created our emotions to work that same way for us.

We don’t know exactly which emotions Peter was experiencing when Jesus asked him to cast the nets again in Luke 5. To Peter, this request just didn't make any sense. He probably anticipated that other people were going to think that he had no idea what he was doing as a fisherman going out to fish in the heat of the day after fishing all night long. After all, it's the same lake, it's the same boat, and it's the same nets. Just in the same way that we think it's the same marriage, it's the same kids, it's the same friendship so why is this time going to be any different than the last time? Is there any reason to think things will change? But this time, Jesus is in the boat and this time, there's a different connection. So Peter, when his way isn't working, humbly submits to Jesus, just as we should.

Reflection/Discussion Question: What lights are going off on your dashboard that you have been ignoring or putting off dealing with?

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