My dad liked fishing. My daddy, Ted Shuman is with Jesus forever now. While he was on this earth, he really like to fish. I guess he just got stuck fishing with me sometimes since I was the youngest of his nine kids. He would load up his gear and we would go out on a pond or a lake somewhere not too far from home. I would tend to get in trouble because I was scared of the fog or weeds or the frogs that jumped. Watching daddy clean the fish and fry them in a hot pan was fun. He would show me how the bones lay so as to get them out just right or how to scale a fish so you could actually eat it. I learned a lot from him just by being with him. He was especially good at showing me how to wash your hands after to get that fishy smell off. That powdered soap was super strong!
Anyway... This post is coming to you because of a dream I had sometime in March of 2020. In the dream, my dad and I went fishing. We caught a lot of fish. There were big long fish and skinny short fish...fish in all sizes, shapes and colors. I found it interesting that in the dream we enjoyed the fishing and being together and discussing the kinds of fish with all the colors on them. Funny thing is that when we got home to clean the fish, we didn't really clean them. Somehow, the skins all came off the fish and dad said they were ready and we put them into this big aquarium just to enjoy them. Have you every seen fish with no skins? These fish were naked! They were all fine and healthy and swimming around and swimming altogether!! You could not distinguish the types of fish anymore because the skins were gone! That was the end of my dream.
OK.... so what does this mean? To tell you the truth, I don't actually know. But what I do know is this.... my Daddy loves fishing and I love to be with my Dad. I had a sense of joy to be fishing with Dad. This is a new season of fishing and catching fish of all sizes, shapes and colors. In the end... the size, shape and color are not important as all these fish will swim together and share a space happily.
Does this not make you think of the times we are in? That perhaps God the Father is asking us to go fishing with him? I felt a new call to Fish for Men of all sizes, shapes and colors. God's true heart is for everyone to know Him. The boundaries of nationality or culture are not important. The question is, "Do you know Jesus?". That actually can be the question that starts a fishing adventure. Or as my friend Judy asks, "What is one thing you want Jesus to do for you today?". I am learning that fishing is not as easy as you might think. That must be why my earthly daddy didn't want to take me sometimes. My screaming in fright at the frogs jumping scared the fish making it harder to catch them! The bait for fishing is pretty important too. Would you want to eat bitter worms? No...you want sweet tasting worms.
How has this dream changed me? Well.... I am excited to go fishing with my Daddy again. It has been awhile since I have felt that excitement. Next, I have noticed that I care less about what kind of fish I might catch and am more concerned that I at least catch one/some! Skin color and size or age are unimportant now. And, if I am going to bother with fishing, I might as well realize that I will not catch every fish. Sometimes fish come and eat all the bait and swim away full! Sometimes, that might actually be the point of fishing.... so the fish get a taste of sweet worms and want to come back for more!! Are your worms sweet??? I have found that I can be a very bitter person... too concerned about my own problems. I am not sweet at all!!
So.... are you ready? Ready to go fishing?
