“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance. And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4
I caught my first rainbow trout, last
weekend. (By the way, the picture is not me. Just a photo I found online showing the fish in more detail than the photos my wife and I took.) It was only one but, there was
a definite feeling of fulfillment inside of me.
Let me explain. Having grown up
and venturing the various lakes of Texas, my fishing knowledge revolved around
two species: bass and catfish. If you
were to look at the arsenal inside my tackle box, you’d see various soft and
hard lures, meant for these two types of marine life. Moving to Colorado, where trout is the top
catch, what I had would not work.
My wife and I took off for a day of fishing. I did my homework on some of the preferred
live baits (since we would be fishing in a reservoir that ONLY allowed live
bait), purchased what was needed, and headed out. Now, the area that we went to consisted of
three different reservoirs in the high elevation of the Pikes Peak
Tollway. The first reservoir we went to
produced no fish. Even after several
hours, neither of us experienced even a bite on our lines. Even though it was very peaceful, in spite of
several others also out fishing, we still wanted to catch a little action on
the lines that we had cast into the water.
After about four hours, we decided to go up the road to one of the other
reservoirs.
We set out to a spot on this body of water. As we walked along the bank, we passed a
couple of guys and inquired how the fishing was. They replied that they had only caught two
fish and that they had been out there for several hours. Still determined to enjoy our time, my wife and
I set up on a nice spot, baited our hooks, and cast out into the waters. Within minutes, I had a bite! While reeling in my line, I could tell that
the fish wasn’t very large but, it was still putting up a little
resistance. Several seconds later, I had
landed my first trout! A beautiful
rainbow trout. Not long after, my wife
also caught one…then a second one! As
much as this bit of action stirred me up, it would be the last of the catch
that we would see, that day.
What is a successful day? Yes! It
was a beautiful day to spend outdoors with my wife. Guys, let’s face it. How often do you come along a lovely woman
that is willing to spend a day out fishing with you AND enjoy it? That made the day a blessing in itself. The added blessing was, after a lot of
patience and vigilance, I received a catch.
It was only one trout but, I had caught it, nonetheless. That experience became my first lesson into
the world of trout fishing. I am on the
rode to learning about this new species, which will become my “bread and butter”
living in a state where there are rivers and streams brimming with this species
of fish.
Fishing offers one of the greatest biblical
lessons, in my opinion: vigilance. The
act of remaining in one place for a long period of time, remaining alert and
attentive to your surroundings. When it
comes to the art of fishing, vigilance is the difference between catching a
fish and mindlessly letting one get away.
While I set out with the mindset of bringing in a full bag, I will not
be discouraged if I made a worthy attempt and was not able to catch my
limit. Life doesn’t always allow those
opportunities. Most times, we need to
stay in that one spot, give it due time, before moving on. Leaving that one position, or situation too
soon may cause a missed opportunity.
Staying around for too long, you may miss a definite opportunity
elsewhere.
How do you know whether to move or not? Through time, patience, alertness, and
understanding. It won’t happen
overnight. It won’t happen in a few
days. It will be a while before I will
be learned enough to be considered an intermediate, or expert trout
angler. I am enjoying the training and
knowledge that comes with bettering oneself in a particular field, or
situation.
God gives us these abilities so that we may hone
our talents. Most importantly, to hone
being the best, attentive Christians that we can be. The learning does not end. God calls us to be “fishers of men” (Matthew
4:19). This type of fishing means
learning how to catch a variety of “species” of mankind. We catch one but, those methods don’t work
for another. We must continue to keep
our senses in tune to our surroundings, pay close attention to everything, and
try different methods if we hope to be successful anglers for God.
Great words! :)
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