“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mays observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.” — Joshua 1:8

“When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Push out into the deep water. Let down your nets for some fish.’ Simon said to Him, ‘Teacher, we have worked all night and we have caught nothing. But because You told me to, I will let the net down.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish, their net started to break.” — Luke 5:44

I recently read about a man, Bob Harrison, who was the operator of a large Southern California auto dealership. He had engineered one of the quickest sales turnarounds in Chrysler history until the market crashed. People had stopped buying cars, interest rates had skyrocketed and he found himself drowning in the sea of a multi-million dollar debt.
He began grabbing for success straws, as he calls it.
He became in demand as a public speaker. During a speaking engagement in Detroit, Mich., he met a millionaire industrialist who, in a few short years, accelerated his life so that he went from machine operator to owning nine corporations.
He began to have conversations with this successful millionaire who introduced to him a book that had the greatest success secrets ever written. To his amazement, this millionaire was referencing the Bible.
Until then, he had always thought of the Bible as a book of theology. Now this successful businessman was informing him that it also is a handbook of personal and financial principles for victorious living.
Peter’s response to Jesus telling him to let down the net in the deep is a representation of a universal thought or concern that many people have had at some point in their lives. We have been toiling all night and have caught nothing.
There is a fear of having nothing that keeps us from giving toward the kingdom, but I have discovered that it can be a sign of God setting you up for a status change. When we get to our lowest — sometimes financially, spiritually and physically —  is when God does his best work. I have discovered when the spirit of nothing tries to overwhelm me, that is a good time to step out on faith.
The prophet Elijah asked a widow for a morsel of bread. It was all she had left and she thought she was going to die. But she gave, out of obedience, and discovered one act of obedience can change your life.

Murray is the senior pastor of Fellowship of Love COGIC and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.