When the Fish Are Rising

As a child I used to love the peaceful Spring days drifting on Lough Erne (a lake in my home county in Ireland). My dad would be fly fishing and I would be sprawled somewhere near the front of his rowing boat, usually cuddling our big Springer Spaniel “gun dog” .

Dad would often say something about “the fish are rising” and inevitably we would head in the direction where this event was taking place. The lifelong fly fisherman would then expertly cast his line in where he had noticed those fish rising to feed.

I almost entitled this post as “When the Warriors Arise”. Whether or not our translators were suddenly aware of what God was doing or of what was expected of them on this mission to translate and record the Gospel of Luke, they certainly rose up in our group today.

Like warriors facing the tough odds, or fish on a feeding frenzy, it was stunning watching the difference in these translators today in their zeal to “get the job done” and eight warriors stood up against shyness, fear, and their own desire to quit. I could hardly believe the change in them after all their reluctance yesterday.

By mid-afternoon we had successfully recorded a first draft of our first Bible story (of the Centurion’s Servant Healed from Luke chapter 7) in all eight languages in our group of translators.

Now our goal of finishing this recording of Luke in all these languages is becoming much more accessible in the light of the translators pursuing and persevering in the goal to finish the task, rising to lay hold of the LORD’s enabling and believing that together we can do this.