Cut Bait, Fish, Get out of the Boat…and I don’t mean swim

Where it began…
God knows your name and wants you to listen to Him. God often speaks to us in different methods. The first method if the Bible. We have all opened the Bible up and “found” a verse that applied to our life and situation, or received an email with just the right words from God. God second method of communicating with us is through our life’s circumstances. God presents us with situations, choices, and decisions that are designed to bring us closer to him and to depend on Him more and more. Another method of God speaking to us is through the Holy Spirit. We may have thoughts, feelings, or even dreams that we know come from God. Another method that God chooses to speak to us, comes from other people. We are all surrounded and influenced by other people, whether we want to be or not. Many times God uses these people and their influence to talk to us.
This last method, through other people is where this lesson came from. I was in a crowded room where several meetings were taking place. These meetings had been going on most of the day when I heard someone say the following: “cut bait or Fish”. Now this saying by itself is not that special, but the fact that I heard it in a crowded room and from across the room, is special. There would have been no way or reason for me to be listening to the other meeting that was going on, but at that moment…that is what and all that I heard…”cut bait or fish”. Now God had spoken to me before, but usually it was through a Sermon or a spiritual influence in my life. The individual that made this statement was one of the “roughest” individuals that I had been around in some time. He said what he thought and wasn’t afraid to use several choice 4 letter words to fully describe it. For some reason, God chose this person, this situation, and this saying to speak to me.
Later, that evening I was lying in bed preparing to sleep, when the saying echoed in my head again…only this time, it was my voice saying it. Cut bait, fish, get out of the boat. Now this was not too surprising to me, since God often chooses those times when I am unconscious or close to it to talk to me. That is one of the times that I am most still and am “listening”. This did make me think, what is it that I am supposed to get out of this? And that is the topic of a recent Sunday School lesson.
Its important to note, that what God shared with me was not cut bait or fish, or get out of the boat. He was not telling me to just make a decision as is the normal way that this expression is used. This statement was cut bait AND fish AND get out of the boat. A few weeks later after discovering some of what Gad was sharing with me…He added and “I don’t mean swim” to His call for me to get out of the boat.