The Running of the Shrimp

One of the great memories of my childhood was going out on a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico.  We lived down near the Gulf in South Alabama.  Many of our friends had homes on the coast, and we were privileged to go out with them.  There is a brief time every year when the shrimp run.  No one can predict the exact moment this will occur, but the minute the shrimp show up, everyone jumps in the car and heads to the water.  Every boat goes out, and people begin to cast out every single net they can find.  All hands are on deck for this phenomenon because the bounty that can be had in these few hours is enough to fill most freezers for everyone involved.  This shrimp run can feed all your friends and family for the year.  It is an amazing thing to see. 

Part of the "event" is that everyone sets up their fry pots on their decks or under their stilted homes, and a big feast ensues.  Because the hour can't be predicted, people may be out shrimping at any time of day, and they come back in to vats of popping oil, waiting to cook up the succulent little beasts. They gather food and come to be fed.  They go back and gather more and come back and eat again, being filled while they go about the work of the harvest.

I remember going out on a shrimp boat with friends.  I was very young, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I don't think that this was during the shrimp run itself, but when we hauled in the nets, we were shin-deep in shrimp.  I don't know why I thought that shrimp and only shrimp would be hauled in, but that was my youthful opinion.  To my excitement, so much more came in.  There were buckets of crabs, several flounder, quite a few octopi, other various mollusks and fish.  There was an unexpected variety in the catch.  I expected some shrimp, but the sheer quantity of shrimp blew my mind!  I did not expect the other little culinary surprises that came with the intended catch. 

I think that this very hour in which we live is similar to the Gulf's famous shrimp run.  I think that at this moment in our lives, all we have to do is begin to cast nets.  The current natural disasters, the shaking and tearing of the earth, the resulting threats - these are causing the hearts of men and women to "run" toward a faith that is real.  Joel 3:13-14 talks about a harvest that is ready.  "Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow--so great is their wickedness!  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!  For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." 

The wonderful thing about gathering the harvest is that we can't even begin to fathom the variety of the harvest.  We may think we know what God is doing.  We may think that He will stir the hearts of this particular group or that individual, but God is doing something greater than we can imagine.  You will find fruit in unexpected places.  You will pull in nets that overflow with surprising catches.  Do not be timid in this hour because God is bringing in a great catch.  All we have to do is cast the nets!  Watch the run, be ready, grab the harvest!