Fish Tale

In August it rains a lot in Florida. You can pretty much count on afternoon rainstorms that last 20 minutes and dump an inch or more. Today was no different. I had errands to run and the rain started. After an hour with no let up, I figured I better get going. I wouldn’t melt.

On the way out of my neighborhood, there were huge puddles. Ponds were so full they were spilling into the street. And then I saw it…no lie: catfish in the street. These ugly mud-colored fish were trying to swim on the asphalt. One curious driver was outside of his vehicle in the rain, touching a catfish with the toe of his boot. I don’t think he thought it was real. I watched another slither off into the grass.

I bet the fish were more surprised than we were.

How is life going for you today? Have you had a little rain in your life? I wonder, has the problems and worries of this life driven you out of your comfort zone? Do you, like the fish, find yourself struggling as you make your way to safer waters?

I want you to know, that feeling that you get when you know you’re not where you need to be is no daydream. We are aliens on this planet.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe we’re from Mars, or our ancestors are little green men. The Bible tells us we are strangers in this world. Just like those catfish didn’t belong on the street, we belong in heaven with God. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

God puts in the heart of every man and woman a longing. Some people call it a God-shaped hole. We feel like a fish on the road, making our way to the next puddle…the next paycheck, the next romance, the next drink, the next buzz. Why waste your time trying to find that thing that makes you feel whole or right again? I know what you’re missing my dear fish. You need water…living water. And I know just Who can supply it.

Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:13-14