Picture a child’s drawing of the ground and sky. 

What do you see?

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I see a ground-cover of green grass and wildflowers, a crooked house towering over smiling stick people with arms straight out.

The sun snuggling deep in a corner or perhaps front and center atop the page, its rays extending just a smidge in all directions.

Crayon streaks of blue sky crown the scene with perhaps a few puffy white clouds and V-shaped birds.

Yet something is missing…

There is a chasm between ground and sky–a distinct and undeniable separation.

We associate the sky with heaven and with God and here we all are on the earth–on the ground.

And sometimes it feels that way–it feels like a chasm between us and God. But we can’t trust our feelings because sometimes our feelings don’t reflect what is true. 

The Art of Drawing Near

Children draw based on their perception and they lack the dimension that comes with learning to see things as they really are. They haven’t yet learned that the sky meets the ground and we can choose to close the chasm and create a new horizon. 

Drawing skills and renewed perception develop through practicing the art of drawing and putting into practice what we are being taught and what we are learning.

And we all need practice in the art of drawing near…

I love the book of James. James 4:8 tells us when we draw near to God He will draw near to us. This is not a catch-phrase, it’s a promise, but we often cut the verse short of the rest of the story.

We want to read the verse as cut and dry and clean, but before we can draw near we’ve got to come clean. We’ve got to wash that worldly dirt off our hands and purify our hearts. 

It can sneak up on us, that divided loyalty between God and the world–sky and ground. It’s not intentional but at times when we should be drawing near, we’re out somewhere trying to catch our dreams. We search for what is just beyond our grasp and often times our nets lay empty. 

The Miracle Catch of Fish (John 21:1-14)

Peter made a decision. He was going fishing and some other disciples followed him there. The night washed away and the fish went with it.

When daybreak came, the risen Christ stood firmly on the shore. “Men,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”

“No,” they answered, not yet knowing to whom they were speaking.

Jesus not only told them to cast the net but to cast the net on the right side of the boat. Clear instructions that when followed, brought exceedingly abundantly more than they could have asked for or imagined.

Those 153 fish jumped into their net, the blessing so abundant they were unable to haul it into the boat.

John was first to call it right, “It is the Lord!”

Peter grabbed his outer garment from the boat, wrapped it around him tight and jumped in, head-first I imagine. He hurried to draw near to Jesus on the shore.

The others followed by boat dragging their bounty and when all had arrived on-shore, they found a charcoal fire already burning,  fish already on it, and of course, there was bread. 

“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. He gave them fish and bread. I imagine they did not take their eyes off of Him as they chewed and swallowed. 

What We Need Most

Jesus already has all that we need, because He is all we need. And we need not go offshore to find what we’re looking for. We just need to draw near. Because what we need most is more of Him.

But it’s okay when we feel the need to push offshore and go searching because it’s in those deep places of longing for more when our nets lay empty, that Jesus meets us in our need.

He fills that chasm of empty we forget to color in and fills our nets to overflowing.

He will take what He already has waiting for us and what He has already given to us and melds them together so we can feed His lambs and care for His sheep and feed His sheep and it feeds our souls.

Finding the True Significance

Miracles fascinate us and how about those 153 fish? It’s an interesting fact that 153 is the sum of each of its parts cubed. We think, hmmm, the 3rd power, the number 3 must mean trinity–or His 3rd appearance–or how about the cool fact that 1 through 17 added together equals 153 or maybe it’s 153 different kinds of fish to represent fishers of diverse groups of men, women, and children. 

Or perhaps it was the three times Peter denied Christ. We find later in that same passage when Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him.

And as we marvel at the miracle and as we search for the significance of 153 fish that did not tear the net, instead let us marvel at the miracle of the risen Christ standing on the shore. 

Because the true significance in all of this is Jesus.

The risen Christ standing on the shore providing the fire for what we need because who needs sushi when the Bread of Life is cooking our fish? 

And what we need is not knowing the significance of a number within a miracle, it’s knowing the Miracle-Maker Himself.

Fresh Fire at Daybreak

So when we’re up all night trying to catch fish and our nets pour out empty and weariness beats down like scorching heat from the sun–look Who is waiting at daybreak–look Who is standing on the shore already preparing what we went searching for. 

Jesus is making us a breakfast of joy and new mercies at daybreak. Fresh fire for weary souls and prodigal hearts.

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God loves us through our journey and loves us in the blank empty spaces until the empty meets that place of grounding, that firm foundation, that deep-grounded faith by which grace and mercy flow freely.

And on the road to discovery and as we learn and grow we tell others how Jesus can bring color to their blank spaces, too. We share about the art of drawing near and how the chasm can disappear because He lives–that there is hope on that new horizon.

Let that be your call to action today–going and telling and sharing that daybreak will come.

May I Pray for You?

Heavenly Father, I pray my friend draws ever-near to You as You love on her and provide her every need. May her eyes be opened to Your unending love and the exceedingly abundantly more You have waiting for her on the shore. I pray she always knows that when she is weak she is strong in You, and Your mercies are new every morning with a fresh dose of Joy right there beside it. May she walk in the plans You have for her and boldly proclaim Your truth to the captives, as she shines for You like a city on a hill. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

Grace & Peace in Him,

Doris

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