Wk 6: Have You Been Marginalized? Pt 2
A Recipe for Answering a Call
Last week, we looked at the famous Fishers of Men story in Luke 5:1-11. Here’s how Part 1 ended:
… And now they [Peter, James, and John] were free. Free to follow Jesus.
In other words, Jesus redeemed them—paid for their freedom. It only makes sense they would accept a spot on his team.
But note the lack of detail on what was going to happen next. All they knew was the first baby step.
Now that you’re free to go, leave your stuff, and let's get outta here.
Note that in the course of this one incident, spanning no more than a few hours, their entire identity changed. They went from being fishermen to being fulltime disciples. You could say they had a type of spiritual awakening, or at least a major leap in spiritual growth.
Peter, James, and John heard and responded to a compelling, personal call to be in a deeper relationship with the divine.
Here in Part 2, we’ll look at what this story has to say for us today, and I’ll share a related story from my own life.
The Recipe
Like a lot of Bible stories, we can derive a recipe—a series of steps for doing something. I find it fun to do that with Bible stories. The Fishers of Men story gives us a recipe for responding to a call from God.
After I give you this recipe, you might want you to think about (and write about) a time this happened to you. As I give you the steps derived from Simon Peter’s story, I’ll tell you about a time something similar happened to me.
Step One. God will start by asking you to do something small.
As in, take me out in your boat.
For me, this happened in 2008 when God asked me to write a book. I had never written a book before—although I had written plenty of technical papers. But first, all God asked me to do was to transcribe my handwritten journals into the computer.
Trust me, I was not much more enthused than Simon Peter. I dragged my feet. A lot. It was six journals, after all. It wasn't that small of a job. But, not that huge, either.
It took me a year (of mostly procrastinating) to get it done.
Step Two. You'll have doubts about your ability to succeed.
Remember what Peter said: We didn't catch anything last night; there aren’t any fish here.
In my story, my biggest doubts came after I entered those journals (over the course of 12 months) and used them to help me write a book (in four months). The next step would have been to publish it.
But instead, I let myself drift to other projects.
For one thing, I was getting vague, lukewarm reviews from friends and mentors at the time. And, despite buying and reading books on the topic, I was struggling to plow through the technical parts of publishing on Amazon. (This was back in 2009 and 2010, when that was a lot harder than it is now.)
I hit a wall, technically. And, I had a major case of imposter syndrome.
Step Three. You’ll take some action, some steps in the right direction.
Peter let down his nets in deep water.
In my case, I kept coming back. Starting new blogs. Writing new things. Writing sermons. Lots of sermons.
Step Four. You’ll face trials. You’ll need to lean on friends. Maybe new friends.
Peter’s nets began to rip. He had to call to James and John for help. They almost sunk their boats.
In my case, I spent 16 years starting blog after blog that hardly anyone read.
That sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? Sixteen years. Until I compare it to, say, the ancient Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years. Looking at it that way, 16 years isn’t bad! 😊
That whole time, I was learning a lot about internet marketing. And, I was experimenting to discover what exactly I was supposed to be writing about.
Eventually, God let me in on what I was meant to write—spiritual memoir—thanks to something I read on the web in 2021. And, I found friends in a writing community—thanks to a Women’s Retreat in 2019—that gave me the help I needed to get me to the point of publishing an actual book.
Step Five. God will reward your small efforts with success.
Peter, James, and John made it safely back to shore with all those fish. They were able to pay off all their debts and walk away without consequence.
In my case, it has been a very circuitous route, but I’ve recently become a published author.
Will the workbook I’ve co-written be a success? The jury is still out on that. Either way, I’m pretty much just along for the ride. God is driving the bus now.
Step Six. You will feel unworthy of your success. You will second-guess yourself.
Peter said to Jesus, “I am a sinful man!” He felt unworthy because of how he had been living.
In the middle of trying to publish, in 2010, I definitely felt unworthy to be blessed with success because of what I had done in the past. Although I feel a little silly now, admitting what it was I had done.
I felt unworthy because I was 40 or 50 pounds overweight around the time I was thinking about publishing that first manuscript. What I had done was to allow my food to get out of control.
And here’s what I had visualized. This is the silly part.
I had been watching a lot of CNN around that time. I rarely missed an episode of Larry King Live. And I had convinced myself that my book would be super successful because, well, God had asked me to write it.
I envisioned myself being interviewed by Larry King Live. And that’s what scared me the most. Being 50 pounds overweight and on TV.
I know. It’s a vanity thing. But it was very real for me.
Step Seven. Take care of things and get over yourself. Resolve your hesitation.
Peter, James, and John were quickly reassured by Jesus that their past didn’t matter. They moved on. They made it safely back to shore.
In my case, I was inspired by the Spirit to give up sugar in 2016. Then I was inspired by a friend to get on a food program (Bright Line Eating) that took away the weight AND the sense of unworthiness.
The weight didn’t (and doesn’t) matter to God. They couldn’t care less what I look like. God only cares about my potential as an author to reach people with the message I was given. (Which, BTW, is that God wants to have a personal relationship with you.)
But my appearance mattered to me, so it was up to me to take care of it.
Oh, and also, I joined
’s coaching program in this general time period. He told me to read ’s The War of Art. Reading that helped me overcome my imposter syndrome.Step Eight. God will reveal your true mission and purpose. You will gain a new identity and discover a renewed sense of self-confidence.
Peter, James, and John were called to become disciples. That was definitely a new identity for them, especially considering their prior situation of being fishermen who were practically slaves. And now they had been called—invited to travel with the master. That fact had to boost their self-confidence.
As for me, I accepted that first mission of writing a book quickly, but accepting a new identity as an author took me a long time. In fact, it’s only been in the last year that I truly, deeply identified with that label.
I didn’t even notice the change at the time. It happened gradually, over a series of months. I didn’t feel that way in April 2024, when I started writing on Substack. But by December I realized Wow, I have totally internalized a new identity.
Also in the last year, I’ve gained a higher level of clarity, increased self-confidence, and renewed energy that has surprised and delighted me.
Your True Mission: One Step at a Time
So that's the recipe I see in the Fishers of Men story, but it comes with a warning.
Just be aware that, once you accept your mission, it won’t come with a manual. Sort of like having a baby, right? A new mission is like a new adventure, a scavenger hunt.
God will give you the first step. Then the second. And so on. One step at a time. Finish this one, get the next.
Missions are on a need-to-know basis. And in God’s mind, you don’t need to know.
That was my experience the whole time I was writing my first book. Which, BTW, I still haven’t published—although I’m using parts of it in new projects here and there. (That’s the good thing about writing. You can always use it somewhere.)
John O'Donohue, the late Irish Catholic priest, talked about this in an article called The Question Holds the Lantern.
Think for a second what it’s like to hold a lantern. There’s only enough light to see your feet and one or two steps ahead.
The question holding the lantern refers to the gift of curiosity that God gives us to want to see what comes after the next step, and then the next, and then the next.
There is no roadmap for the journey of faith. That can be disappointing to those of us who never leave home without turning on GPS. Even in our hometowns. (You know, in case you need to take a detour around a wreck or something. 😉)
But in Matthew 18:3, Jesus tells us that we are to be like little children.
There are a lot of ways we can be like little children. In this case, it’s like a family trip to grandma's house. Little children have no clue how to get to grandma's house, and they don't care. They trust their parents to get them there safely.
It's not important for us to know the way forward. We don't even have to care about what that way is. We don't have to worry about what that way is. We can just trust that God is going to get us there safely.
The Writer’s Interpretation
So remember at the beginning of Part 1 when I told you I was going to give you the writer’s (really the storyteller’s) interpretation of the Fishers of Men story? Here it is.
The recipe suggested by the Fishers of Men story is about hearing a call, doubting, responding, facing trials, returning a success, feeling unworthy, and accepting a new identity with renewed self-confidence. Those are the steps.
In fact, this is the basic story of what it is to be human. Maybe you recognize the pattern. Storytellers like to call this the Hero’s Journey. It’s the basis for all good tales, from Gilgamesh to Star Wars.
But for the faithful among us, it’s more than that. It’s about being a witness to and being reassured of God’s love and continuing presence. God has a hand in our lives, whether we recognize it or not.
The Hero’s Journey is one we repeat over and over throughout our lives. It's an enlarging spiral of growth (which is something
points out in her book Finding Jesus).The call today for each of us is this:
to be mindful of our journey,
to be aware of the cycle of spiritual growth and where we are in that cycle right now,
to be ever curious and ever ready to follow where Spirit is leading,
to set aside fear and imposter syndrome,
to trust that God has a plan, even if we don’t understand it, and
to have faith that They will be at our side with each small step we take.
Good luck on your journey!
Prompts for Journaling
ChatGPT is helping me get better at writing prompts. This week, I looked at what ChatGPT gave me and realized I could do better. Progress!
The journey of following a spiritual calling often begins with taking one small step. Have you ever sensed a call to a new spiritual or personal journey? Or know someone else who has? How did it begin?
In her book, Freeing Jesus, Diana Butler Bass describes our spiritual journey as an ever-widening spiral that is more inclusive with each turn. She says this frees us to revisit and incorporate old understandings. Reflect on how that metaphor applies to your own journey. Where are you now?
We embrace new identities throughout our lives as we move through growth and life stages. Map out the key identity changes you’ve experienced over your lifetime. Which ones were associated with a sense of mission?
Some versions of the Hero’s Journey include a step in which the mentor dies. (Think Yoda in Return of the Jedi.) Reflect on a mentor you’ve had whom you lost to death or with whom you no longer share a close relationship. What was their impact on your spiritual journey?
In what sense (if at all) have you found freedom in Jesus Christ or another Higher Power?
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