I’m not a fisherman (oops, PC … fisherwoman!).  I remember once as a child when grandpa took my cousin and me fishing … we went to a fish hatchery, took a pole, threw in some kind of what looked like rabbit pellets, and caught a fish.  I was excited then … later I realized that was not “real” fishing! 

Also living in a community that has a small lake I’ve taken my grandchildren down to the lake and they caught the fish but I had to unhook the fishy fish from the hook! 

However, this isn’t about my fishing experience or lack thereof!  When I first heard the song, “I Remember the Fish”, I thought it was kinda silly but then I heard it again and listened.  The words are so true.

How often when we are in crisis or have a great need we panic or begin to think, “How can I meet this need? Where can I get the money to pay the rent, feed my family, get gas …”

Remember the fish!

There are a number of stories in the Bible about God providing through fish. Peter needed money to pay his taxes … Jesus told him to go fishing and he would find the money in the mouth of the fish!  He did and he did. (Matthew 24).

Peter and the disciples fished all night and caught nothing … Jesus told them to cast their net on the other side and they caught a boatload of fish!

They had a need and God provided … through fish.

But I guess the greatest story I love is the story of the young lad who went to hear Jesus.  It was a long day, the people were hungry, the lad gave his five loaves and only two fish to Jesus and Jesus miraculously multiplied the small offering into enough food to feed 5,000 men, plus women and children, and had TWELVE basketfuls left over.

Back to the song … (youtube: Greater Vision, I Remember the Fish)

They sat down for supper in their quiet little house

Looked at one another, “What was God doing now?”

Times were hard and debts must be paid 

Where was God? So little food on their plates.

Then the daddy broke his silence and the kids just listened in

He said, “When I face a challenge and feel like giving in

I go back to my favorite memory, to be exact,

It happened here in Galilee

When my mama woke me up and said,

That we are going out to hear a man named Jesus 

On a hill outside of town.

We listened to His sermon and people needed food;

I handed Him my lunch — you know the rest!

So no matter how hard life may get 

I remember the fish

You should have seen all the fish!

You see I’d often heard of miracles

But never witnessed one until I

Was watching the impossible and saw 

Those baskets filled with so much food

There were faces full of joy, 

How my faith grew that day as just a boy

So children learn this lesson, listen to your dad

Miracles will happen when you give God all you have.

Then when you’re weak draw strength from that day

When He met all your needs

He multiplied your faith

Like when my mama woke me up and said, … “

When we have a need, do we remember how God has helped us in the past?  Can we draw on experience that our God is Jehovah-Jirah, our God provides?

Do we pass these stories on to our children?  Are we making godly memories for them? Do they see us recount what God has done for us?

Stop right here and write down five of your own fish stories … (here are five of mine …)

1)  I was a young mom, my husband was gone for a few days and I had NO money and needed milk for my baby … a lady in our church who was on welfare came to the house and told me God told her I needed milk money and she gave me $10 … in the ’60s that was a LOT of money!

2)  I was saved from a near-drowning because Grandma prayed … she lived over 400 miles away and God woke her up to pray and my life was spared.

3) The time I literally in my spirit saw an angel beside me giving me the courage to face an immense challenge.

4) God commissioned us to start a Christian television station and we were faced with insurmountable odds going into a Board of Supervisors meeting.  In our morning devotions, God had given us the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea with the Egyptians chasing them.  As the wheels of the chariots came off … God said to us, “watch the wheels come off” … and we watched miracles happen in that Board of Supervisors meeting.

5) God spared my husband’s life a number of times in health issues and in car accidents.

Remember the fish!