Fishing in the Dead Sea
by Paul Lawrence
The Dead Sea is an interesting place to visit. You arrive in the middle of the desert and before you is an expanse of water that has no life in it - no fish, no plants, just a lot of salt. In fact the only thing living in there are the thousands of tourists that bob up and down on the surface, marvelling at the way they can float.
When I visited the Dead Sea recently our tour guide pulled out an interesting certificate to show me the fishing licence she had bought for about $100 that gave her rights to catch fish in the Dead Sea. This seemed a waste of money, as there’s no way you could catch anything but a tourist in that water, but she had confidently bought this licence. For you and I, someone was investing in something that, to the natural eye, was a waste of money and time. But she was looking ahead at a promise from the Lord in Ezekiel 47:8-10 that says:
‘He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds - like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea”’.
The tour guide was living by a promise in the word of God and had invested in that promise that one day she will catch fish in the Dead Sea. Perhaps people, with the same certificate, had already bought rods, nets and invested in other equipment, in preparation for the day they can go fishing.
The Lord has promised something to each one of us. To the disciples Jesus said, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’ (Mathew 4:19). He gave them the licence to fish before they were ready, saying that in the future they would fish, and they did! If you have a promise from the Lord, and it all seems like the Dead Sea, hang on to the promise and invest in it. The Lord has not forgotten you. Invest in that promise, prepare for that promise, trust the Lord with that promise, because one day it will be fulfilled and you will be fishing in the Dead Sea.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your promises to me and the fishing licence You have given me, even though I struggle to see how it’s going to be used. I want to move on today with that investment You’ve put in me, and look forward to all You have for me to do in the future. What do You want me to do to prepare for that promise? In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Paul Lawrence is the Centre Director at Ellel Grange, UK and is married to Anne, who is the Deputy Centre Director for the Grange. He has lived in Africa for over 20 years and China for 5 years. His passion is to see the Lord do bigger and greater things in peoples lives that they cannot do on their own, not just in healings but also in the fun things of life. His belief is that nothing is ever big enough and as a team we can achieve anything if the Lord is at the centre.
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