Because You Say So

If you grew up a child of the '70s and '80s as I did - first of all, it was awesome😊! Second, you probably heard the following phrase from your parents more than you cared to, “BECAUSE I SAID SO!”

Oh, no- the dreaded response to our desperate question, “Why?”  This, when we didn’t get the answer we wanted.  “Because I Said So” …it was the reply from our precious parents (or am I the only one? lol😂) when they didn’t want to give us any more of an explanation than that. Thus, we all carried on with being recipients of this mostly unwanted reply and we have lived to tell about it. 

Though I might jest with such a phrase and the growing up experience, there is another way of stating this wording that puts it into a different perspective.  When the disciples in Luke, chapter five, were fishing and Jesus came upon the scene - this is what happened:

Luke 5:1-7

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 

2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 

7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

As we read this passage of Scripture, we learn that Jesus instructs several of the disciples to do something that seems illogical to them.  Jesus asks the fishermen to take their boats out again, but to the deep and let their nets down for a catch.  Simon responds to Jesus in verse five -

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

They obeyed.  In verses six and seven, we see the results -

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 

7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

After they obeyed Jesus with what seemed to them an unbelievable request, they witnessed a miracle!  These new friends were blessed with more than they could have expected, imagined or hoped for.  If you noticed, their response was - “because YOU say so!”

We started this Encouraging Post with a laugh from the past.  Reliving that familiar comment used by many parents, “Because I said so!”  However, in a contrasting context - let us concentrate on verse five where Simon’s reaction to Jesus is -

5 …”Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

In this verse is the pivotal statement, “because you say so …”

Jesus gives each of us directions as He did these fishermen on that day.  There are moments even we can wonder why the Lord is asking such a thing or leading us in a certain way.  He tells us to rest in Him.  He says to keep our eyes on Him.  He asks us to hope in Him.  When we respond in obedience to Jesus and His instructions to us with, “because YOU say so …,” we are giving our trust to Him.  Here, we are in absolute surrender to our God. 

Isn’t this where we want to be in our walk with the Lord?   No matter the path, no matter the delay, no matter the perplexing circumstances - when we know Jesus is guiding us, we too can say, “because YOU say so.”   As we commit ourselves to Him in this manner, we can believe in His way and in His timing.  Additionally, we will be assured that just as He did for the fishermen - as we read in verses six and seven of chapter five - He will do the same for us. 

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Jesus will work all things for our good and for His glory in our lives as we respond to His teachings, instruction, and wisdom with - “BECAUSE YOU SAY SO!”

I am glad to pray with you. If you have a prayer request, please visit my PRAYER REQUESTS page.  You are welcome to complete a prayer request form and submit it for any reason.  I assure you, I will pray with you and your need will stay between the Lord, you and me.  If you have done so - know that I am praying every day with you for the Lord to meet your needs.

If you want to know more about making Jesus your Savior or more about the Lord, please visit my INVITATION AND PRAYER page. You are welcome to contact me at thumanburgin@gmail.com with questions or comments.  

May it be that we seek the Lord and receive His guidance in all matters of our lives.  May it be that we choose to obey His ways.  I pray the once “Because I said so” rhetoric in our childhood days is now “Because YOU say so” in the everyday relationship with our God. 

Luke 5:5

…because you say so…

Oh, dear Reader - Jesus loves you so!

Tammie Human Burgin