A Fisherman's Faith

Seth David Vivek

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Christianity
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A Fisherman's Faith by Seth David Vivek is a podcast where Seth shares honest reflections on faith, life, relationships, and personal growth through the lens of biblical truth and everyday experiences. Each episode offers practical encouragement and Christ-centered wisdom to help listeners walk more closely with God in the midst of life's ordinary moments. sethdavidvivek.substack.com

Sep 5

Trust, Honor, and Oneness - What I Continue to Learn After 31 Years of Marriage?

Welcome back to A Fisherman’s Faith Podcast. This morning, as part of our devotional time, my wife and I were reading a book called “Relational Salvation” by Brother A. Z. Adams. We have read this book several times over the years. There are certain books we keep coming back to, not because we have forgotten what they say, but because we so easily forget our own nature in the flesh. We need those reminders through the Word of God, through spiritual literature, and through discipleship and fellowship with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. As we were reading, our conversation naturally moved toward our marriage, and we began asking ourselves a simple question, where are we when it comes to trust and honor in our marriage? My wife and I met when we were teenagers and eventually married as young adults. We have now been married for 31 years. When I look back over those years, I can honestly say there has always been love between us. There has been attraction, friendship, care for each other, raising our family, walking through difficult seasons, and celebrating the good ones. We knew each other’s strengths and abilities, and over the years our marriage naturally developed around those strengths. We had roles and responsibilities, and we did what we knew how to do. However, there were times when our strengths were similar, and when those strengths collided, we experienced friction. One of us would eventually compromise, sometimes unwillingly, simply to maintain peace and move on. Looking back, I realize we were often dealing with the difference for that specific situation, but we were not necessarily dealing with what was underneath it. We were resolving the issue, but trust, honor, and oneness were not really our focus. And perhaps that was because pursuing those things requires something deeper from both of us, surrender and sacrifice. It is much easier to say, “Let’s settle this and move on,” than to stop and ask, “What is Christ trying to teach me here? Where is my pride? What do I need to surrender? How can I honor my wife even when we strongly disagree?” Through difficult seasons, trials, and brokenness over the last few years, the Lord began showing us that there is a difference between simply functioning together as husband and wife and truly growing together in oneness. As we talked about it, my wife began writing down her thoughts based on our experiences and what the Lord has been teaching us. As she wrote, we started to see two very different paths. One is God centered, and the other is pride centered. If you are listening to this podcast and not reading the script, take a moment to look at the graphic. It helps illustrate what we were seeing in our conversation. On the God centered side, we saw a progression that begins with trust, then faithfulness, loyalty, devotion, honor, and obedience. Trust says, “I do not have to depend completely on myself. I can trust God, and I can learn to trust the person God has placed beside me. ” Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” That challenges me because I can love my wife and still lean too heavily on my own understanding. From trust comes faithfulness. Faithfulness says, “I will remain true and committed even when the season is difficult.” Faithfulness grows into loyalty, “I will stand with you. I will not walk away simply because things are not going the way I expected.” Loyalty deepens into devotion. Devotion goes beyond fulfilling responsibilities. It means giving your heart and seeking the good of the person God has placed beside you, even when that requires sacrifice. And then comes honor. Romans 12:10 says, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” Honor means I do not take my wife for granted. I value her. I respect her. I listen to her. I recognize her worth before God. But what does God actually ask of a husband and wife? Ephesians 5 gives us a clear picture. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” As a husband, that is humbling. Christ gave Himself. So biblical leadership is not about control or getting my way. It is about sacrificial love, laying myself down for my wife. Paul also gives the wife a clear command. Ephesians 5:22 to 24 calls wives to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord.” And we cannot separate that from verse 21, which says, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” I know the world often challenges the biblical teaching about a wife’s willing submission. But I can only speak from what the Lord has taught me through my own marriage. I learned this the hard way, there is no hope for biblical oneness when the wife refuses the willing submission Scripture calls her to, but there is also no hope when the husband refuses the sacrificial love Scripture commands him to give. These two commands belong together. The husband is called to lay down his life in love. The wife is called to willingly submit as unto the Lord. And both are ultimately surrendering themselves to Christ. This is not about one person winning and the other losing. It is about both husband and wife laying down self for the sake of Christ and for the good of the marriage. That brings us back to the God centered path, trust, faithfulness, loyalty, devotion, honor, and obedience. But there is another path, and pride is often much more subtle than we think. It can begin with self reliance, “I can handle this myself. ” Then self trust, “I know what I am doing. I know what is best.” Then self importance, “My feelings, my desires, my opinion matter most.” And eventually self exaltation, “I do not need correction. I do not need to listen. I do not need to surrender.” That leads to dishonor and eventually disobedience, choosing my way instead of God’s way. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” That verse becomes very personal when I look at marriage, because sometimes the biggest problem is not my wife. Sometimes the biggest problem is the pride in my own heart. And this is why I am so grateful for what the Lord has been doing in my wife and me. We are not saying we have figured this out. We are slowly making progress toward a deeper relationship of trust and honor. Sometimes that progress feels slow, but I praise the Lord for His grace. He continues to teach us, correct us, and draw us toward Himself. Over the last three years, the Lord has also graciously allowed us to be part of what we believe is a true body of Christ. One thing that has impacted me deeply is witnessing the oneness within the families in this body. We have seen families who do not simply speak about Christ, but live lives of surrender to Him. And that kind of oneness does not come easily. We see people enduring in the Holy Spirit through surrender, sacrifice, humility, love, honor, and suffering for the glory of Christ. Galatians 5:22 and 23 reminds us of the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. That fruit grows as we yield ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit. What encourages me even more is seeing that the fruit of this kind of life can reach beyond one generation. When children see their parents choosing humility instead of pride, sacrifice instead of selfishness, love instead of resentment, and honor instead of self importance, they are seeing something words alone cannot teach. That kind of fruit can be carried into generations. That is the legacy I want, not simply what I accomplished in this world, but what Christ was able to produce through two imperfect people who were willing to surrender to Him. Genesis 2:24 says that a husband and wife “shall become one flesh.” I believe biblical oneness is much deeper than sharing a home or dividing responsibilities. It is two people continually surrendering themselves to Christ and allowing Him to bring their hearts together. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” I love that picture for marriage. It is not simply husband and wife holding tightly to each other. It is husband and wife with Christ at the center. And Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” So when I look at these two paths, I do not see a formula for a perfect marriage. I see a mirror for my own heart. Am I trusting God, or am I trusting myself? Am I faithful when things become difficult? Do I honor my wife in the way I speak, listen, and act? And am I willing to surrender my pride and obey Christ? My wife and I are still learning. After 31 years, we have not arrived. But perhaps that is one of the beautiful things about walking with Christ. He continues to reveal our hearts and invite us into deeper surrender. So if God is revealing something in your marriage today, do not immediately focus on what your spouse needs to change. Ask the Lord, “What are You showing me about my own heart?” Maybe it is trust. Maybe it is honor. Maybe it is pride. Maybe it is forgiveness. Maybe it is surrender. Whatever it is, let Christ begin His work in us. Because the goal is not to have a perfect marriage. The goal is to have a marriage that belongs to Christ, a marriage where both husband and wife can say, “Lord, do not let us build this according to our own wisdom. Build it Yourself. Teach us to trust. Teach us to be faithful. Teach us to be loyal. Teach us to be devoted. Teach us to honor one another, and above everything else, teach us to obey You.” Because when Christ is at the center, our marriage becomes more than just a relationship between two people. It becomes part of His purpose, His kingdom, and His testimony to the generations that follow. And that, my friends, is a glimpse of our journey, two imperfect people learning to walk in oneness under the grace of Christ. Unt
Aug 27

A Fisherman’s Faith - The Lifeline the Lord Gave My Son.

Welcome back to A Fisherman’s Faith Podcast. If you are a listener and not a reader, my request is for you to also read the script for this podcast, because I have included several pictures that are essential to this episode. They help tell the story of my son Ben and the journey I want to share with you today. You know, it’s a unique experience to live with someone whose life seems to revolve around fish. For me, that person is my son, Ben. My second son, Benjamin, is 24 years old now, and he has been fishing since he was about five years old. I still remember the first time I took him fishing at Downs Park in Pasadena, Maryland. I didn’t know much about what bait or lures to use in the Chesapeake Bay, so we were using chicken liver. But there were no bites. Meanwhile, a couple of men fishing next to us on the pier were catching fish after fish. After a couple of hours without a bite, Ben started crying. He was so disappointed. One of the men saw what was happening and kindly gave us a couple of bloodworms. He told us that chicken liver wasn’t going to work. We put the bloodworms on the hook, cast the line, and before long, Ben caught his first fish in the Chesapeake Bay. I can still remember the smile on his face. For a five year old boy, it was pure joy. I didn’t know it then, but that little fish was the beginning of something that would become a very important part of his life. Today, almost 20 years later, fishing is much more than a childhood hobby for Ben. During fishing season, he gets up around 4:30 every morning. While most of us are still sleeping, he is already getting ready to head out. He spends hours on the water and often comes home with some really good sized hybrid stripers. He may take a short nap, get cleaned up, and go to work. When he comes home from work, he cleans the fish, fillets them, vacuum seals the fillets, and freezes them for future use. He also shares some of the fish with families in our church. And I think that is one of the things that gives him the greatest satisfaction, knowing that something he worked hard to catch becomes a meal for our family and for other brothers and sisters. His love for fish doesn’t stop with fishing. He has a 125 gallon freshwater aquarium with African cichlids, and an above ground pond with goldfish and a few Japanese koi. Sometimes I look around and think, “Lord, You certainly gave this boy a love for fish.” For the longest time, I didn’t see fishing the way I see it today. As his father, I wasn’t always comfortable with how much time and energy he devoted to it. I wondered why he needed to go fishing again and again. But after watching him for many months, I began to see something I had not understood before. Fishing gives Ben joy. It gives him something to look forward to. It gives him a place to clear his mind, and something to hold on to. And today, instead of questioning it, I am extremely thankful for it. Because I honestly believe fishing has been a lifeline the Lord has given Ben. I believe there may have been seasons in Ben’s life when, without something like fishing to give him joy and keep him moving forward, I might have lost him in ways I cannot even fully explain. I thank God that He gave Ben something that has helped sustain him. I remember something Brother Derek, a very close family friend and a brother in Christ who was my minister at the time. He once told me something about Ben that I didn’t understand back then. He said, “Fishing is where God will meet Ben, and Ben will experience God.” I didn’t understand those words then. I saw fishing mainly as something that was taking too much of Ben’s time and attention. But today, I see those words very differently. Maybe Brother Derek understood something I didn’t. Maybe God can meet us in places we never expect. For Ben, perhaps the water can become one of those places. The quietness, the waiting, the patience, the beauty of creation, and those early mornings can become opportunities for God to speak to his heart. And this is where I want to be careful. I am not saying fishing should ever replace God. It shouldn’t. I am not saying everything connected to fishing is automatically good or that every desire we have is from God. But I do believe God, in His goodness and grace, can use something ordinary to sustain someone through a difficult season. Ben has known Christ since he was a child. He knows that Christ loves him, and he knows that Christ died for his sins. I know that through my conversations with him and through the times he has asked me to pray for him. But I also know that God is still working in Ben’s heart, just as He is still working in mine. There are areas of surrender that God continues to work on in all of us. And as his father, I don’t want to point a finger at Ben as though I have somehow arrived. I haven’t. I know my own need for the grace of Christ. So my prayer is not one of judgment. It is a prayer of love. My prayer every day, every minute, is that Ben would passionately pursue Christ with the same passion he has for fishing. Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Those words have become very meaningful to me when I think about my son. I don’t know exactly what God’s calling is for Ben. I don’t know how He will use his gifts or where his journey will take him. But I have an unshakable faith that God has a purpose for his life. And if it is the Lord’s will, I believe fishing can become more than a lifeline. It can become a tool in God’s hands. Perhaps someday, the passion that takes Ben out onto the water could become a way for him to build relationships, connect with people, share the love of Christ, and become a fisher of men. Maybe the very place where Ben finds joy today could someday become a place where someone else encounters Jesus. But that is God’s work, not mine. It has to happen in His timing. And that brings me to something I want to say especially to fathers. Sometimes, as fathers, we look at our children and become frustrated because we don’t understand their choices, their interests, or the things that keep them going. We may see something as a distraction when God may be using it to sustain them through a season. So fathers, let’s be careful. Let’s pray before we judge. Let’s listen before we criticize. Let’s ask the Lord to show us what we cannot see. There may be a lifeline God has placed in your child’s life that you don’t understand yet. It could be something very small. It could be something significant. But if it is truly God’s lifeline, it will never be connected to sin or lead your child away from Christ. God’s lifeline sustains. God’s lifeline gives hope. God’s lifeline can carry our children through a season until His purposes become clear. Sometimes we may not understand why God allows something to remain in our children’s lives. But perhaps one day, in His perfect timing, He will connect all the dots. What we thought was simply a hobby may become an opportunity. What we thought was just a passion may become a platform. What we thought was only a lifeline for survival may eventually become a tool for ministry. And until that day comes, our responsibility as fathers is to pray, to love, to encourage, and to patiently trust God. Because God sees what we cannot see. God knows what we do not know. And God loves our children more than we ever could. That is what I have come to understand through Ben. Today, when I see him heading out before sunrise, I don’t simply see a young man going fishing. I see a son whom God has entrusted to me for a season. And I pray, “Lord, meet him there.” When he is on the water, I pray, “Lord, speak to his heart.” And when I see the joy fishing brings him, I pray, “Lord, use that joy to draw him closer to You.” I am thankful for fishing. I am thankful because I believe the Lord has used it to sustain my son. And I am trusting that the same God who provided that lifeline will, in His perfect time, reveal where it leads. Perhaps it will lead Ben deeper into his relationship with Christ. Perhaps it will lead him to serve. Perhaps, if it is God’s will, it will make him a fisher of men. Until then, I will pray. I will wait. And I will trust. Because the greatest lifeline God has ever given any of us is not a hobby, a passion, a place, or a person. It is Jesus Christ. And that, my friends, is a message from a father and a fisherman’s heart. Love you all in our Lord’s love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 24

Faith, Patience & the Promise

Yesterday morning my wife and I went for our morning walk, and we were listening to Genesis chapters 18 and 19, sharing her AirPods so that we could hear the same verses. When we finished listening, we started talking about something that really resonated with both of us: faithfully waiting in patience for God’s promise to be fulfilled. In Genesis chapter 18, when Sarah hears the Lord say that she will have a son, she laughs to herself. Her reaction is understandable from a human perspective. She is an older woman, Abraham is also advanced in age, and the circumstances seem completely contrary to what God is promising. Sarah is looking at what she knows, what she sees, and what seems practically possible. She hears God’s promise, but she struggles to see how that promise could possibly become reality. But Sarah’s laughter in chapter 18 didn’t happen in isolation. To understand her reaction, we need to look at what happened earlier in their journey. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham and made promises concerning his future. In Genesis 15, God specifically promised Abraham that his heir would come from his own body. But by Genesis 16, years had passed, Sarah still had no child, and the promise probably seemed increasingly impossible from a human perspective. That’s when Sarah decided to intervene. She gave her servant Hagar to Abraham, and Hagar had a son, Ishmael. Abraham and Sarah were trying to solve a problem that God had already promised to solve in His own way. Then, in Genesis 17, God reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and made it clear that the promised son would come through Sarah. And now, in Genesis 18, when God again tells Abraham that Sarah will have a son, Sarah laughs. After years of waiting, after trying to solve the problem herself, she is now hearing God repeat the promise, and from everything she can see, it still seems impossible. And isn’t that how we sometimes respond to God? We hear His promises, we pray, and we believe. Then we look at what is happening right in front of us, and our practical mind starts asking questions. What we see can sometimes appear completely opposite to what we are praying for. Maybe we’re praying for someone’s life to change, but everything we see tells us that the person is moving further away from God. Maybe we’re praying for someone’s health, and instead of seeing improvement, we continue to see their body becoming weaker. Maybe we’re praying for a relationship to be restored, but everything happening around us seems to make reconciliation less likely. I can testify that one of the hardest things in my life is watching someone whom I love and care for deeply walk in a direction that seems completely opposite to the path the Lord has promised for him. It can be difficult to hold on to a promise when everything you witness seems to point in the opposite direction. And that’s when the temptation comes to intervene. I want to step in. I want to fix things. I want to protect the person I love from the consequences of the choices they are making. I want to find a practical solution. That’s what makes Sarah’s story so relevant to me. Her struggle wasn’t simply believing in God. She struggled with waiting for God’s timing. The longer she waited, the more impossible the promise appeared. Eventually, she and Abraham tried to accomplish through their own plan what God had promised to accomplish in His way. And isn’t that what we sometimes do? We say, “I trust God, but just in case, let me figure this out myself.” We believe God, but we also want a backup plan. We pray for His will, but we still want to control the outcome. There is nothing wrong with being practical. Faith doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing. Sometimes faith means acting. Sometimes it means preparing. But sometimes faith means waiting. There is a difference between faithful obedience and trying to manufacture God’s promise ourselves. And when we intervene in something God has asked us to trust Him with, our actions can have consequences that reach much further than the moment. Abraham and Sarah’s decision involving Hagar didn’t simply address an immediate problem. Its consequences continued through generations. That makes me think about how carefully we need to respond when we become impatient with God. We may be trying to fix today’s problem without realizing what our solution could create tomorrow. God sees what we cannot see. He sees tomorrow when we can only see today. He sees the next generation when we are focused on the immediate situation in front of us. But waiting on God doesn’t mean that He leaves us to struggle in our own strength. He gives us grace for the waiting. He strengthens us, changes us, and teaches us things that we may never learn if everything happened according to our timetable. Maybe that’s why waiting is not wasted time. God may be working in the situation, but He may also be working in us. And perhaps that is where God is teaching me to surrender. I can pray. I can love. I can encourage. I can speak the truth. I can be available. I can do what God asks me to do, while being careful not to become a stumbling block in what He is doing in that person’s life. But I cannot become God in someone else’s life. I cannot control another person’s choices or force someone to change. I can release that person into God’s hands and trust Him even when I don’t see the change I am praying for. That doesn’t mean I stop caring or ignore reality. It means I refuse to let what I see today become greater than what I know about God. It also means establishing healthy boundaries so that my love doesn’t become an excuse to enable sinful behavior. I can love someone without participating in what is harming them. I can speak the truth without condemning them. I can step back when necessary without abandoning them in prayer. And I have to be careful not to become intimidated by the enemy. One of the enemy’s tactics is to make us forget God’s promises when circumstances become difficult. When we become discouraged, we can start believing that we need to take control because God isn’t going to act. But faith says, “I don’t understand what I am seeing, but I know who I am trusting.” That brings me back to the question God asked Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” That’s really the question of faith. Not, “Does this look possible to me?” Not, “Can I figure out how this is going to happen?” But, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Then Genesis 19 gives us another important perspective. Abraham had interceded for Sodom, appealing to God’s justice and mercy. In the next chapter, we see the seriousness of sin and God’s judgment, but we also see His mercy as He provides a way for Lot to escape. God’s mercy doesn’t mean He ignores sin, and His judgment doesn’t mean He has stopped being merciful. God is holy, and God is merciful. That matters when we are praying for someone we love. We don’t know what God is doing in that person’s heart. We don’t know how He may be working through circumstances we cannot understand. We may not know what tomorrow will bring, but we can know the character of the God we are trusting. So if you’re waiting today, don’t confuse waiting with giving up. Continue to pray. Continue to love. Speak the truth. Obey God. Establish healthy boundaries when necessary. Don’t enable what God is asking you to surrender. And when your part is finished, leave the outcome in His hands. Maybe you’re waiting for healing. Maybe you’re waiting for restoration. Maybe you’re waiting for someone you love to turn back toward God. Maybe you’re waiting for a relationship to be restored, or simply for God to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense right now. If that’s you, I want to encourage you with the same truth I’m learning myself: don’t let the circumstances become bigger than the God who made the promise. Sometimes the miracle isn’t only in what God eventually does. Sometimes the miracle is what He is doing in us while we wait. And perhaps what He builds in us during that waiting will become a blessing not only for us, but for our children and generations that come after us. So today, I’m learning to pray, to trust, to surrender, and to wait, not because I know what tomorrow will bring, but because I know who holds tomorrow. This is my Fisherman’s Faith. And until next time, may we learn to trust God not only when we see the answer, but also when we are still waiting for it. Love you all in our lord’s love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 20

Two Voices in One Heart: Which One Are You Following?

During devotional time this morning, my wife and I got into one of those conversations that starts simple and somehow gets you thinking much deeper. We were talking about the human heart and how it can be pulled in two very different directions, toward the power of sin or toward the power of God. At one point, my wife asked me, “Why don’t you draw this out as a flow chart?”. So I grabbed a piece of paper and started writing down what was going through my mind, with her thoughts and input shaping what I was putting on paper. And, as any good IT husband would do, I eventually gave my rough notes to ChatGPT and asked it to make them look pretty. So, here it is. For those of you listening and not looking at the graphic, let me describe it. At the very top is a human heart, and from that heart the picture splits into two paths. On the left is the power of sin, and on the right is the power of God. The left side is darker, and the right side is brighter. The two paths start from the same heart, but they lead in completely different directions. On the left, I have temptation, desire, choice, sin, bondage, shame, fear, spiritual death, separation from God, and finally death. On the right, I have truth, faith, surrender, obedience, freedom, peace, strength, spiritual life, fellowship with God, and finally abundant life. The more I looked at those words, the more I realized something. This isn’t just a flow chart. In many ways, it represents our life. About three years ago, on a Sunday night at around 10 o’clock, my wife and I made a decision that completely changed our lives. Based on the prayerful advice of a pastor who is a dear friend of ours, we knew we needed to escape from the life and circumstances we had built over 25 years. We knew what we needed to leave behind, but we had absolutely no clue where we were going. We got into our 4Runner with the essentials we needed and started driving. We weren’t driving toward a destination that we had carefully planned. We didn’t have an address waiting for us. We didn’t have a five year plan. We didn’t even fully understand why we were being led in the direction we were going. We just knew we needed to leave. And then we drove for 26 hours. When I think about that now, it reminds me, in a very different way, of Jonah in the belly of the fish. Jonah had no control over his circumstances. He couldn’t get himself out. God was the One who moved him from where he was to where He wanted him to be. In our own way, those 26 hours felt like God was moving us, against all odds, from the home and life we had known for 25 years into a new place that He had chosen for us. There were so many things that could have gone differently, a serious situation with our son, weather, circumstances, timing, our own fears, our own doubts, and all the practical things that could have stopped us. Any one of those things could have changed the course of that journey. But somehow, step by step, mile by mile, God made a way and got us there. Looking back now, I can see His hand in so many details that we couldn’t see at the time. And the amazing thing is, we didn’t know the destination. We were simply trusting the One who did. Three years later, I can see something I couldn’t see that night. God wasn’t just taking us away from something. He was taking us toward something. He was leading us toward truth. And eventually, He led us into a body of Christ that I believe He Himself chose and orchestrated for us. That part of our story has changed my understanding of Christianity more than almost anything else. We didn’t just find a church building. We found brothers and sisters in Christ. We found people who walked with us, prayed with us, encouraged us, challenged us, corrected us, loved us, and helped us understand what it means to live life together as followers of Christ. And through that body of Christ, we began experiencing something I would describe as abundant life. Not a perfect life. Not a life without suffering. Not a life where every problem suddenly disappeared. We still face trials. We still experience suffering. And some of the difficulties we face today are connected to choices we made in the past. There are consequences we can’t simply erase. We can’t go back and rewrite those chapters. But there is something that has changed. We don’t have the slightest doubt about the power of God. That is probably one of the greatest lessons I have taken from the last three years. Faith doesn’t always mean knowing where you’re going. Sometimes faith means knowing what you need to leave behind, even when you don’t know what lies ahead. Sometimes faith means getting into the car and driving through the night, trusting God with every mile. Sometimes faith means saying, “Lord, I don’t understand this, but I believe You are leading us.” And that’s where this flow chart becomes very personal for me. The power of sin says, “I want my way.” The power of God says, “Lord, Your way.” Three years ago, we didn’t have all the answers. We didn’t know where the road was going to take us. But we were willing to surrender our need to know everything. And today, when I look back, I can see God’s fingerprints all over that journey. It reminds me of Deuteronomy 30:19, where Moses says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” When I think about that verse alongside this flow chart, I don’t think choosing life means making one big decision and then everything becomes easy. I think it means choosing God again and again, especially when we don’t understand. We choose faith when we are afraid. We choose surrender when we want control. We choose obedience when our desires are pulling us in another direction. And sometimes we simply choose to take the next step because we trust the One who knows the destination. That’s what I see in our story. We knew what we were escaping, but we didn’t know where we were going. God knew. And somehow, through circumstances we could never have orchestrated ourselves, He brought us to a place where He had already prepared a body of Christ for us. And that’s why I don’t look at this flow chart as a sermon. I look at it as a reminder of our own journey. I see our choices. I see our mistakes. I see the consequences of some of those choices. But I also see God’s grace. I see truth. I see surrender. I see obedience. And I see a God who was faithful even when we didn’t understand what He was doing. Our journey isn’t over. We still have trials. We still have suffering. We still have things we are praying about. But after everything we’ve experienced, there is one thing I can say with complete confidence, I don’t have the slightest doubt in the power of God. I don’t know what tomorrow holds. I don’t know what the next chapter will look like. But I know who holds it. And maybe that’s the encouragement I want to leave with you today. You may know exactly what you need to leave behind, but have no idea where God is taking you. You may be standing at a crossroads, wondering what the next step looks like. You don’t necessarily need to know the entire destination. Sometimes you just need enough faith to take the next step. Because the power of sin pulls us toward ourselves, toward “I want my way.” But the power of God invites us to say, “Lord, Your way.” And looking back at that 26 hour drive three years ago, I am so grateful we chose to trust Him. Today, by God’s grace, I still want to choose life. I still want to choose His way. And even when I don’t understand the road ahead, I want to keep trusting the One who does. This has been another few minutes from A Fisherman’s Faith. Love you all in our Lord’s love, and until next time, may God bless you and keep you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 17

Guardrails, Grace, and the Love of Christ, My 2 Cents.

Last evening, my wife and I had a wonderful time with a couple who are dear friends of ours. As we talked about our past and present lives, our conversation eventually turned toward some of the legalistic principles we had lived by in the past, principles we sincerely believed were expressions of our Christian faith and our love for Christ. But as we reflected on our lives, we began to recognize something uncomfortable. Sometimes what we called Christian values and protection was actually being driven by fear. We thought we were protecting our faith, protecting our children, and doing what was necessary to preserve our Christian identity. But looking back, perhaps some of the guardrails we created were not necessarily guardrails God asked us to create. Let me share a little about my own life. I was born and raised in a Hindu family, with many generations of commercial shrimp fishermen on my father’s side. I met my wife when we were both teenagers, and we eventually got married as young adults. Because ours was an inter religious marriage, it was completely unacceptable to my family. I had to leave my home, but my wife’s family accepted me as their own son. Then, when I was about 25 years old, the Lord, in His incredible grace, opened my heart to receive the gift of salvation through Christ. That changed the direction of my life, and I never looked back. As we continued our life and walk with Christ, my wife and I made a deliberate decision to stay away from my side of the family. At the time, we genuinely believed we were doing the right thing. We thought that if we isolated ourselves and our children from influences that did not share our faith, we could somehow protect their Christian beliefs. Looking back now, I believe much of that decision was driven by fear. We thought, “If we keep our children away from these influences, they will remain strong in Christ.” But it did not produce the fruit we expected. In the process, we missed a golden opportunity to share the love of Christ with my parents and much of my family. We also learned something very difficult, isolating our children from people who do not share our faith does not guarantee that they will grow up to become men of God. As I have shared in previous podcasts, both of my sons are now adults, walking through their own journeys in life, with their own struggles and decisions. As parents, we sometimes wish we could protect our children from every wrong influence, every wrong relationship, and every wrong decision. But I want to be very clear here. I am not saying that we should throw our children into every ungodly environment and simply take the risk. That is not wisdom either. There are environments, relationships, and influences that can be destructive, and as parents, we have a God given responsibility to protect our children. The real question is, “are we making those decisions through the wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit, or are we making them primarily out of fear?” There is a difference between wise protection and fear driven isolation. As parents, we need to know in His Spirit which relationships should be encouraged, which ones require boundaries, and which ones we may need to walk away from. But those decisions should ultimately be driven by Christ’s love and His wisdom, not simply by our fear of what might happen. We cannot create a Christian bubble around our children and assume that the bubble itself will produce faith. At some point, our children must develop their own relationship with Christ. They need convictions that become rooted in their own hearts, not simply rules that were enforced by their parents. And this is where I believe being part of the body of Christ becomes incredibly important. When our children grow up within a genuine, Christ centered body of believers, they have an opportunity to see Christianity lived out beyond their own parents. They see brothers and sisters walking through suffering, marriage, parenting, forgiveness, failure, repentance, generosity, service, and faithfulness. They begin to understand that following Christ is not merely a collection of rules about what they can and cannot do. It is a life surrendered to Him. Living and being part of the body of Christ can help produce everlasting convictions in our hearts and in the hearts of our children, convictions that can remain even when they leave our homes and begin making their own decisions. Am I saying this guarantees that our children will always walk with Christ? Absolutely not. Our children will make their own choices. They may struggle. They may wander. They may resist what we taught them. Ultimately, their relationship with God has to become their own. But perhaps this is one of the best opportunities we can give them, a home centered on Christ, parents who genuinely live what they believe, God’s Word as the foundation, the Holy Spirit as our guide, and a body of believers around them where they can actually witness the life of Christ being lived. Jesus Himself did not compromise holiness, but He was never afraid to love people who were far from God. He did not participate in their sin, but He entered their world with truth, grace, compassion, and love. And I think this is where we sometimes misunderstand Christ’s love. Christian love does not mean approving everything someone does. It does not mean eliminating every boundary. And it certainly does not mean recklessly exposing our children to harmful influences. But neither does it mean building walls around ourselves and calling those walls faith. Sometimes God calls us to establish a boundary, and sometimes God calls us to build a bridge. The challenge is having enough discernment to know the difference. Looking back, I wish I had understood this earlier. I wish I had spent more time building relationships with my parents and family while maintaining my convictions, rather than believing that distance alone would somehow protect the faith of my children. Because faith cannot ultimately be transferred through isolation. Our children need to see Christ in us. They need to see us love people who disagree with us. They need to see us forgive. They need to see us stand for truth without becoming harsh. They need to see us establish boundaries without hatred and extend grace without compromising our convictions. And they need the body of Christ, a community where faith is not simply preached on Sunday but lived throughout the week. My wife and I have learned some of these lessons the hard way. We cannot control the outcome of our children’s lives. We cannot build enough guardrails to guarantee their choices. And we cannot produce faith in their hearts simply by keeping them away from everything we consider dangerous. What we can do is give them the strongest foundation we know, Christ at the center of our home, God’s Word as our standard, the Holy Spirit as our guide, and the body of Christ around them. Then we have to trust God with what we cannot control. Maybe this is one of the differences between fear driven Christianity and faith driven Christianity. Fear says, “I must control the environment so nothing goes wrong.” Faith says, I will obey God, seek His wisdom, follow His Spirit, love people, establish boundaries when necessary, and trust Him with what I cannot control. ” Our children are ultimately God’s children before they are ours. We are stewards. We can teach them, guide them, protect them, pray for them, and model Christ before them, but we cannot make their decisions for them. Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities we can give our children is not a perfectly controlled environment, but a genuine faith they have seen lived out at home, within the body of Christ, and in the way we love the people God places in our lives. There are no guarantees. But I believe it gives them a strong foundation upon which everlasting convictions can be formed, convictions that can draw them back to Christ even when life takes them through difficult seasons. And maybe that is what my wife and I are still learning about Christ’s love. Our faith should not cause us to love people less. As we grow deeper in Christ, His love should teach us how to love people better, with truth, wisdom, discernment, grace, and without fear. That’s my 2 cents. Love you all in our Lord’s love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 13

I Stand Still When Patience Is My Only Option… My 2 Cents.

This morning, I was working out in the small gym we have set up in our home, and while I was exercising, my mind was doing a workout of its own. There were a lot of open-ended questions, unknowns, and situations running through my mind—things I care deeply about but ultimately cannot control. As a father, that can be difficult. When you love your children, your instinct is to do something. You want to correct what is wrong, protect them from consequences, point them in the right direction, and help them make better decisions. But there are times when God reminds us that we have a responsibility, but we do not have control over the outcome. Sometimes God brings us to a place where the right thing to do is wait, pray, remain faithful, and trust Him. That does not mean we become passive or stop caring. It means we recognize the difference between what God has entrusted to us and what belongs to Him. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Being still does not mean doing nothing. It means recognizing that God is God and I am not. As a father, I have responsibilities. I am called to love my children, pray for them, provide wise counsel when appropriate, speak truth in love, and live a life that demonstrates what it means to follow Christ. But I cannot make their decisions for them, and I cannot change their hearts. That belongs to God. This is where I have to be careful, because the enemy is relentless. When I am uncertain, the enemy can whisper, “Nothing has really changed. Everything is going back to the way it was. You need to act now. You need to do something.” And if I allow those thoughts to control me, fear can cause me to move ahead of God. I can start trying to fix things that I was never called to fix. I’ve learned through my own failures that actions driven by fear don’t usually produce the peace or the results I am looking for. I’ve tried to force situations. I’ve tried to solve problems that weren’t mine to solve. I’ve tried to get ahead of God because I was uncomfortable with waiting. And many times, those decisions created more confusion rather than resolution. So I’m learning that patience is not abandoning my responsibility. Patience is fulfilling my responsibility while trusting God with the outcome. There is a difference between doing what God has called me to do and trying to do what only God can do. I can testify to this from my own life: it has often been in seasons of patience, and through complete brokenness, that I have been able to hear from God most clearly. When I have exhausted my own strength and finally stopped trying to control the outcome, I have become quiet enough to listen. In that brokenness, God has shown me things about myself, my responsibilities, and my need to trust Him that I could not see when I was trying to manage everything myself. As I continued working out this morning, I looked up toward the sky. It was blue, clear, and beautiful, and for a moment, I simply stopped and looked up. I prayed, “Lord, You created the entire world in six days. You spoke, and creation came into existence. You know every detail of my life, and You know every burden I carry for the people I love. You know the questions I don’t have answers to. You know the things I cannot control. You know my fears, my hopes, and even the moments when my faith becomes weak.” And then I simply said, “Lord, I trust You. Not my will, but Yours. Let Your will be done.” That is a simple prayer, but it is not always an easy one. Sometimes I want God’s will, but I also want it on my timetable. I want to see the answer today. I want to see the situation change today. I want to see the people I’m praying for make different choices today. But faith requires me to trust God even when the answer has not yet arrived. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That means I don’t need to see everything God is doing in order to trust that He is working. My responsibility is faithfulness, not control. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” That is a practical instruction for me. Remain hopeful. Be patient. Keep praying. Don’t allow uncertainty to become an excuse for fear or impatience. As a father, I want to love my children while recognizing that, as adults, their decisions are ultimately between them and God. I want to pray for them faithfully without allowing fear to dictate my actions. I want to speak truth when the opportunity is appropriate, encourage them when I can, and always keep the door open. Most importantly, I want to live in a way that demonstrates the faith I am asking them to consider. But I also have to recognize where my responsibility ends. I cannot make their decisions for them. I cannot manufacture repentance. I cannot force someone to follow Christ. I cannot change another person’s heart. Only God can do that. That is why surrender is so important. Surrender is not giving up my responsibility. It is recognizing the limits of my responsibility. I can pray. I can counsel. I can encourage. I can love. I can remain faithful. But I have to leave the outcome in God’s hands. Galatians 6:9 tells us, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” I don’t know what the “due season” will look like, and I don’t know when it will come. But I do know what I am called to do today: remain faithful. And when the enemy whispers, “Nothing has changed,” I need to remind myself that I am not responsible for producing the change. God is. My responsibility is to remain obedient and faithful while trusting Him with the things I cannot control. Maybe you are carrying something similar today. Maybe you are praying for a child, a spouse, a family member, or someone you care deeply about. Maybe you have questions that don’t have answers. Maybe you have been tempted to step in and take control because waiting has become difficult. If that is where you are, ask yourself a simple question: “Have I done what God has entrusted me to do?” Have I prayed? Have I spoken truth when appropriate? Have I loved faithfully? Have I remained obedient? Have I done my part? If the answer is yes, then perhaps it is time to stand still. Not because you have given up, but because you are trusting God. Not because you don’t care, but because you understand that some things are beyond your authority. And not because you can see what God is doing, but because you know who God is. I want to be a faithful father. I want to pray without fear. I want to act when God calls me to act and remain still when He calls me to wait. I want to fulfill the responsibilities He has given me and leave the results in His hands. Because my children belong to God before they belong to me. He created them. He knows them better than I ever could. He knows their hearts, their struggles, their decisions, and their future. My role is to remain faithful to what He has entrusted to me. God’s role is to work in ways that I cannot. So today, I am choosing to stand still. Not because I have given up, but because I am learning to surrender. Not because I have stopped caring, but because I am learning to trust God with what I cannot control. And not because I can see what God is doing, but because I believe He is faithful even when I cannot see it. That’s my 2 cents today. Lord, let Your will be done. Give me the wisdom to know what You have entrusted to me, the courage to do it faithfully, and the patience to stand still when there is nothing more for me to do. Help me to pray without fear, to act with wisdom, to speak truth with love, and to trust You with the outcome. Give me grace to remain steadfast and a grateful heart for everything You have done and everything You continue to do. Your goodness has no limits. Amen. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 12

A Brother, A Son, A Father, Learning to Serve God in Every Role ... My 2 Cents.

Welcome back to My 2 Cents. Sometimes God uses someone else’s story to reveal something He has been teaching us about our own. Recently, my wife was texting with a dear sister, a close friend and what I would call a soul sister. This sister was asking my wife to pray for her younger son, a teenager who is going through some struggles. Some of those struggles have been influenced by decisions made by his older brothers, but there is also something deeper happening in his heart. He is still learning to see the goodness of Christ and understand why obedience to Him matters. After my wife prayed for this young man, something in her heart prompted her to share with me a thought that would stay with me, the important role an elder son and an older brother can play in the lives of their family. An older brother may not realize how closely his younger brother is watching him. His choices, his character, his relationship with God, and the way he treats his family can leave an impression that lasts for years. An elder son can also become an important source of strength to his father, especially as the family moves through different seasons of life. I’m fifty-five now, and that conversation took me back through my own life. When I was a teenager, I did whatever I wanted. I followed the desires of my flesh and didn’t think much about the consequences. There were sins I justified in my own mind, and some continued for years. My thinking was simple, if my flesh wanted it, then it was worth the risk. I lived for the moment without understanding how deeply my decisions could affect the people around me. When I was twenty-three, I left home because of a disagreement with my father over the woman I wanted to marry, the woman who is my wife today. At the time, I believed my father was being stubborn. Instead of having the humility and patience to work through the disagreement, I simply left. But my younger brother was only fourteen. I thought I was making a decision about my own life. I didn’t understand that, as his elder brother, my decision would affect him too. After I got married, my father and I didn’t speak for nine years. Then my mother suddenly passed away from a massive cardiac arrest at the age of sixty. It was a devastating blow for all of us. I was thirty-three, and my younger brother was twenty-four. When I came home for my mother’s funeral, I saw my younger brother in an extremely fragile state. He was anxious and experiencing heart palpitations, and I ended up taking him to the hospital. His mother was gone, and the brother who had left years earlier had suddenly returned, but would soon be leaving again. I didn’t have the humility then to understand what it meant to be an elder brother. It took many years for God to open my eyes to that. Over the last few years, my wife has continually reminded me, “You need to be there for your brother.” She wasn’t asking me to rewrite the past, because neither of us can change what has already happened. She was reminding me that, through God’s grace, I can choose how I live today and how I show up for my brother in the years God has given us. Recently, God gave me an opportunity to do that. My younger brother and I were in Switzerland for my niece’s wedding, and we stayed in the same hotel room for several days. We talked, spent time together, and got to know one another in a way we hadn’t really done before. For those few days, I experienced something I should have valued much earlier in life. I got to be his older brother. I know I cannot recover the years I lost, but I can choose to be present now. And then I look at my own two sons. For many years, my elder son was by my side. He was my strength and helped me in ways he probably didn’t even realize. In many ways, he also became almost like a second dad to his younger brother. As a father, watching an older son care for his younger brother is a tremendous blessing. Over the years, both of my sons have walked through their own struggles, disappointments, wounds, and challenges. Those experiences have created distance between them and, at times, distance from God. I have spoken about many of those struggles in previous podcasts, so I don’t want to revisit all of those details here. What I want to say is that, as a father, I deeply miss the closeness they once had. I know my elder son has his own journey, and I don’t blame him for the distance that has developed. At the same time, I know my younger son misses his elder brother, and he continues to wrestle with surrendering his own desires, yielding to God’s plan, and learning to trust the Lord’s direction for his life. That reality has caused me to look beyond their circumstances and ask God what He is teaching me about my own responsibility as a father. Proverbs 17:17 says, **”A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”** I understand that verse differently today. A brother can be someone God uses to stand beside you when life becomes difficult. Being an elder brother doesn’t mean being perfect or having all the answers. It means being willing to be there. And Micah 6:8 says, **”He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”** When I look back at my life, I realize that God has been teaching me exactly that. Not simply to know what is right, but to walk it out with humility. God has been humbling me, revealing my failures, and teaching me to faithfully fulfill the roles He has entrusted to me, as a son, an elder brother, and as a father. I am learning that these roles are not simply positions within a family. They are opportunities to walk humbly with God, serve the people He has placed in my life, and glorify His name. But I cannot force my sons to reconcile. I cannot force my younger son to change, and I cannot make my elder son come closer. What I can do is pray, love, encourage, remain available, and trust God with what I cannot control. Because ultimately, this isn’t just a story about my brother or my sons. It’s a story about me, and about God’s mercy toward me. I was once an elder son and an older brother who placed my own selfish desires before the responsibilities God had given me. I wanted what I wanted, and I pursued it without the humility and obedience necessary to understand the influence I carried. Now, at fifty-five, I am watching my two sons navigate their own struggles, wounds, choices, and relationship with God. I don’t believe God is showing me their weaknesses so that I can judge them. I believe He is teaching me to pray for them, love them, and stand in the gap for them, trusting that in His perfect timing, they will walk the distance toward surrendering their lives fully to Him. And I, as an elder brother, certainly didn’t understand when my younger brother was fourteen what my decision to leave home would mean for him, not only for the years that followed, but also for the man he would eventually become and the way he would carry his own role as a father to his children. Our choices can travel much farther than we ever realize. What we do in one season of our lives can leave an imprint on relationships and even on generations we may never realize we have influenced. And perhaps that is where God’s mercy has brought me. I cannot rewrite my past, but I can allow God to use it to change the man I am today. I can choose humility where I once chose pride, obedience where I once chose my own desires, and presence where I was once absent. Perhaps that is what God wanted me to understand through my wife’s prayer for that young man, and through her gracious reminder of my own past. As she prayed for a younger brother who is being affected by the choices of those who came before him, God reminded me of the younger brother I once had, and the responsibility I carried as his elder brother. He reminded me that our choices can travel much farther than we ever realize, shaping relationships, influencing lives, and sometimes reaching into the next generation. So if you are an elder son or an older brother listening to this, don’t underestimate your influence. Someone may be watching you. Someone may be depending on you. Someone may be quietly waiting for you to show up. You don’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to have all the answers. Be present. Be humble. Be faithful. Honor your father and mother, carry the responsibilities God has entrusted to you as a son, and be there for your younger brothers and sisters. Don’t see these responsibilities merely as burdens, but as opportunities to serve God, strengthen your family, and point the people coming behind you toward Christ. And if you are a father, don’t give up praying for your children. You may not be able to change their hearts, but you can remain faithful before God and trust Him with what you cannot control. When we yield to the Holy Spirit and respond to Christ with willing obedience, we can become better brothers, better sons, and better fathers. We can honor the roles God has entrusted to us, not for our own glory, but to serve Him faithfully and glorify His name. We cannot change yesterday, but we can surrender today. This is Seth David Vivek, and that’s My 2 Cents. Love you all in our lord’s love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com
Aug 9

Don’t Let the Light Go Out | Faith, Conviction, and the Next Generation | My 2 Cents.

Welcome back to My 2 Cents. My wife and I are reading He Must Reign by Brother Asahel Adams for the second time. The first chapter, The Crisis of a Dimming Lamp, challenged us to think about the spiritual condition of the Church and whether we have the vision and willingness to recover what may have been lost and faithfully carry the truth of Christ to the next generation. As we talked about the chapter, we realized that the questions were not just about the Church around us. They were questions we needed to ask ourselves. We began looking honestly at our own walk with Christ and asking what had shaped our faith over the years. Those questions caused my wife and me to look back over our journey. Until about three years ago, we had spent more than twenty years as members of one church, along with some limited time worshipping and serving in a few other churches on the East Coast. As we reflected on those years, something became clear. For much of our Christian life during that season, church had gradually become a place of convenience rather than a place of conviction. That is really the heart of today’s message, Don’t Let the Light Go Out. I want to be clear, this is not a criticism of any church or denomination. This is our testimony. We are grateful for every pastor, teacher, friend, and believer God placed in our lives. But God has also shown us areas where our own hearts needed to change. Looking back, we experienced many wonderful things. We loved worship with excellent music. We appreciated messages that spoke to what we were going through. We participated in and hosted Bible studies. Our children participated in youth groups. We built lasting friendships, enjoyed fellowship, and yes, even good coffee. None of those things are wrong. They are blessings. But somewhere along the way, we realized our faith had become centered more around what church offered us than what Christ was asking of us. We were involved, but were we truly surrendered? We were attending, serving, and participating, but were we truly being transformed? What was missing was a deeper desire to truly know Christ, not simply to know about Him. We rarely spoke about the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit. Looking back, much of our Christian life during that season was shaped more by comfort than complete surrender. That is where I began to understand the difference between convenience and conviction. Convenience asks, “What can I receive?” Conviction asks, “What is Christ asking me to surrender?” Convenience follows Christ when the path is comfortable. Conviction follows Him when the path is difficult. As I reflect on our journey, I have come to believe that genuine conviction is often born through suffering. I am not saying that because I read it in a book. I am saying it because I have lived it. The hardships, disappointments, uncertainties, and trials our family has experienced over the past several years have changed us deeply. They stripped away things we had unknowingly placed our confidence in and taught us to depend on Christ instead of circumstances. Through those experiences, God began replacing convenience with conviction. As a listener, you may be asking, “What made you come to this realization that suffering is foundational to a convictional faith?” The answer is that I have now been part of a Body of Christ where the lives of believers are driven by a conviction to carry the light of Christ to the next generation. They don’t do it simply through words, literature, or sermons. They carry that light through the way they live, through their sacrifice, humility, love, service, and willingness to endure hardship for Christ and for others. Being part of that community has allowed me to see something I had not fully understood before. Conviction is not simply something we say we have. True conviction becomes visible in the way we live, especially when following Christ costs us something. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3, verses 12 through 14: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of.” Paul tells us that suffering is part of faithfully following Christ. But our suffering is not about receiving something in return. We are not suffering so God will owe us a blessing or reward. We suffer because we have already received something that can never be measured, the gift of salvation purchased through the death and gruesome suffering of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our suffering is not a transaction with God. It is an expression of gratitude, surrender, and faithfulness. What Christ accomplished for us cannot be repaid. But we can honor His sacrifice by taking up our cross, remaining faithful, and allowing His life to be seen through ours. Without a willingness among believers to suffer for Christ, the true Body of Christ can never fully mature. Churches may grow numerically. Buildings may become larger. Programs may become more polished. Worship music may become more professional. Outreach may expand through sports, Vacation Bible School, food ministries, and other activities. These can all be wonderful expressions of Christ’s love. But if activity becomes the primary focus while making disciples becomes secondary, we risk raising generations that know the church as a community center rather than the Body of Christ, generations that know about Jesus but have never truly come to know Him. I have to look at my own family here. Both of my sons were baptized in the church when they were around twelve years old. At the time, we celebrated those baptisms as beautiful moments of faith and obedience. But looking back, I have to ask whether they truly understood the sanctity and holiness of baptism and what it meant to publicly identify themselves with Christ. Honestly, I don’t believe they fully understood it. Looking back, I think baptism was more of an emotional, one time event than the beginning of a deeply understood commitment to follow Christ. They were young, they trusted the adults around them, and they understood baptism as an act of obedience, as they had been taught by their youth pastor. And I have to take responsibility for that as a father. It would be easy to point to the church, the youth pastor, or the program, but spiritual discipleship begins in the home. Perhaps I was more focused on making sure my sons were involved in church than making sure they understood what it meant to surrender their lives to Christ. That realization has changed how I think about discipleship. What happens after the emotional moment? Is there repentance, surrender, hunger for God’s Word, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to carry the cross when following Jesus becomes difficult? That is why I believe the lamp is dimming. Not because the Church lacks activity, but because activity cannot substitute for spiritual transformation. Our greatest responsibility is not merely to preserve church traditions, but to faithfully pass the light of Christ to the next generation. Salvation is the beginning of the journey, not the destination. The light of Christ is seen in a life that daily takes up its cross and follows Him with honor, humility, love, patience, and obedience. As we endure for His name and His glory, Christ is formed more deeply within us. His light shines through us for our families and the world to see. When we sacrifice, forgive, remain patient, serve others, and continue to love when it is difficult, we reflect the heart of Jesus, who willingly suffered for us. We are not trying to earn what Christ has already given us. We are demonstrating that what He has given us is worth everything. Perhaps that is the light the next generation needs to see, not simply Christians who attend church or participate in programs, but believers whose lives demonstrate what it means to follow Christ when following Him is difficult. As I close, I want to leave you with four questions that my wife and I have been asking ourselves. Is my relationship with Christ driven by conviction or convenience? If following Jesus became costly tomorrow, would my faith remain? Am I carrying the light of Christ in a way that the next generation can see, follow, and carry forward? And if everything familiar were taken away, would Christ still be enough? Those are not easy questions, but they are necessary ones. So when I say, Don’t Let the Light Go Out, I am not simply talking about keeping the light burning in our churches. I am talking about the light of Christ burning brightly within us. One day, the next generation will look to us. They will not only listen to what we say about Jesus. They will watch how we live, how we suffer, how we love, how we forgive, how we serve, and how we remain faithful when life becomes difficult. My prayer is that when they look at our lives, they will see the light of Christ. May we be faithful enough to carry that light, humble enough to protect it, courageous enough to suffer for it, and surrendered enough to pass it on. Don’t let the light go out. Thank you for spending these few minutes with me. Until next time, this is My 2 Cents. Love you all in our lord’s love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sethdavidvivek.substack.com

A Fisherman's Faith by Seth David Vivek is a podcast where Seth shares honest reflections on faith, life, relationships, and personal growth through the lens of biblical truth and everyday experiences. Each episode offers practical encouragement and Christ-centered wisdom to help listeners walk more closely with God in the midst of life's ordinary moments. sethdavidvivek.substack.com

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Seth David Vivek
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2026
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20
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A Fisherman's Faith