“He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish” (John 21:5-6, NIV).

I’m on vacation from practice this week. I brought my kids and grandkids to Hilton Head for the first time. Today, we took a break from the beach and recruited a last-minute fishing boat for four men and two grandsons. Jackson Tomaszewski was the young captain of the small vessel. He did a great job taking us offshore where my two grandsons worked together to bring in a 30-pound king mackerel. After the pictures and the grandkid grins, Captain Jack told us, “I need to tell you a miracle story. I came to Christ when I was 18. It changed my life and everything about it. When I was 21, I entered a mackerel contest. I prayed the night before and the morning of to catch a king mackerel; I never had. We didn’t look for bait in the morning because I had faith that God would provide. After not landing a single fish by lunch time, my fishing time was over, and I had 100 percent doubt that God was able to answer my prayer. As I looked up to heaven, scolding Him for leaving me with nothing, hand on the throttle to head home, a very large, king mackerel came flying out of the water and landed in the boat, thrashing around and tearing up the back seat. It was amazing, made the news and even USA Today—though they left the mention of God out of it.”

God winks at us at times. When and where is almost always a surprise. When God winks, He steps into our lives in clear, undeniable ways, just to say, “I’m here.” Most of us have experienced one or more “winks” we hang on to, just as the Israelites held on to the Red Sea crossing. Such times amaze us, because God spoke clearly into an otherwise deafening world.

Jesus talks about having ears to hear (Mark 4:9). Sometimes He speaks loudly enough for any ears, but most of the time He speaks in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13) that we must lean into and listen.

He speaks most clearly when we read or remember His Word in His Scripture.

He speaks through others when they share their stories, like Captain Jack, who was willing to witness to strangers.

He speaks through a Christian conscience that has been trained to hear His voice.

He speaks through the beauty of a sunset.

He speaks when we uncover the truth of His creation and understand our miraculous molecular repair systems that corrects thousands of otherwise malignant mutations each day.

He speaks within the deep tragedies of life when He says, “Fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10a, ESV).

We should always be grateful when God winks at us, as He did with Captain Jack, and we should never forget. A full and meaningful life with the Lord requires us to lean in and listen hard for the constant whisper of our Shepherd.

Dear Father,

Help me have ears to hear, and thank you for the moments of flying fish and undeniable clarity.

Amen