Hello, everyone. This is Seth David Vivek, and welcome back to another episode of “A Fisherman’s Faith” Podcast. Have you ever looked at someone you love and quietly thought, “I just don’t see how this can change”? Maybe you’ve prayed for years. Maybe you’ve watched the same struggles continue. Maybe you still say, “I trust God,” but somewhere deep inside, you’ve begun to wonder whether the story is already written. I’ve been there. And this morning, the Lord used something as simple as an old, rusted pair of hedge shears to remind me of something I don’t want to forget, we may see the condition of something, but God sees its purpose. A couple of days ago, Sister Lisa asked me to help move a couple of tables from her porch back to the sisters she had borrowed them from. After making my final delivery at Sister Camille’s house, we talked for a little while about some car problems and a few other things. As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed an old pair of hedge shears sitting on her deck. Sister Camille asked me if I wanted them, and I said, “Sure.” I really didn’t know why I took them. The handle was sticky, the blades were rusty, and they looked like they had been sitting around for quite some time. But I put them in my SUV and went home. This morning, I noticed them again. I took them out, wrapped the handles with some duct tape, put a little WD-40 on the blades, and thought, “Let’s see if these things still work.” I took them to the bushes in front of my house and started trimming. To my surprise, they worked really well. The blades were still sharp, and within a few minutes, I had finished the job. I stood there looking at those old shears and the bush I had just trimmed, and the Lord brought a thought to my heart: How easily I could have judged those shears by their appearance and missed the purpose they still had. How often do I do the same thing with people? How often do we look at someone’s past, mistakes, or circumstances and decide there isn’t much left to expect? After watching someone struggle for a long time, we can become tired. We may still love them, but our expectation can quietly disappear. Scripture reminds us in 1 Samuel 16:7, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I see the outside. God sees the heart. That does not mean we ignore reality. Brokenness is real, choices have consequences, and sometimes wisdom requires boundaries. But what I can see is not the complete picture. Think about Saul. Before his encounter with Christ, he was persecuting believers, yet God was not finished with him. Think about Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned. His circumstances looked nothing like the future God had prepared for him, yet God was working through a story Joseph could not fully see. And this becomes especially personal when I think about someone who is my own blood, someone I love very deeply. There have been times when I have pleaded with God, “Lord, how long? What do You want me to do? How can this change?” There are days when I become discouraged because I don’t see the change I’m praying for. But the Lord has been teaching me something very simple: I am responsible for my obedience, not for controlling someone else’s heart. I can pray. I can love. I can speak truth when the opportunity is there. I can set appropriate boundaries. But I cannot change another person. Only God can do that. I have seen this truth in the lives of men I have known within a true body of Christ, men whom the world had essentially written off. Their past was real, and their failures were real. But through daily repentance, humility, obedience, and a willingness to receive correction, I watched men begin to walk differently. Their stories taught me that a person’s past does not give me the authority to determine their future. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” That includes you, and it includes the people you are praying for. Maybe today you feel like those old hedge shears. Maybe you look at your past and think, “I’ve made too many mistakes.” Maybe you wonder whether you have wasted too much time or whether there is still any purpose left for you. If that’s you, bring your life honestly before the Lord. Repent where you need to repent, receive His grace, and keep walking with Christ. And if there is someone you have become discouraged about, bring that person before the Lord. Ask Him to give you patience, wisdom, humility, and love. Trust Him with what you cannot control. Philippians 1:6 gives me great comfort: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” The work is His. The timing is His. My responsibility is to remain faithful to Him. But something happened this Sunday that caused me to look at this message from another angle. I had written this podcast transcript on Friday. Then, during our church service on Sunday, Sister Regina Adams shared a testimony and quoted Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.” As I listened to her, the Lord brought the message back to my heart. I had been thinking about how easily we judge someone by what we see. But Philippians 2:3 challenged me to examine my own heart. Humility is not simply being willing to admit that I might be wrong. It means learning to value another person above my own thoughts, preferences, assumptions, and judgments. That can be difficult when we believe we know what someone needs, especially when we love them and have watched their choices for a long time. But Scripture calls me to something higher than my own judgment: “Consider one another as more important than yourselves.” That does not mean calling wrong things right, ignoring consequences, or abandoning wisdom and discernment. It means remembering that another person is not merely the sum of their mistakes, their circumstances, or what I currently see. Philippians 2:4 continues, “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” That changes the way I pray. Instead of only asking, “Lord, change this person,” I can also ask, “Lord, show me how to love this person better. Show me where I am wrong. Show me what I cannot see. Help me to speak when I should speak, remain silent when I should remain silent, and serve when You give me the opportunity.” So today, I want to leave you with one simple thought: don’t write the final chapter when God is still writing the story. You may not know how the story will end. I don’t either. But we know the One who holds it. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is near the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” So, keep walking in truth. Keep your heart humble. Keep bringing the people you love before the Lord. And remember that you are not responsible for writing their story. When we walk in obedience and remain willing to listen to the Lord, He can use an old pair of rusted shears, a trimmed bush, a Sunday testimony, and so much more to reveal something much deeper: we are not the authors of one another’s stories, and we are not the judges of one another’s worth. We are called to walk humbly, consider others more important than ourselves, and let God do His work. If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who may need this reminder today. Maybe someone who is carrying a burden you cannot fix for them. Remind them that they can bring that burden to the Lord and leave it there. This is Seth David Vivek, and this is “A Fisherman’s Faith”. Thanks for reading and listening. You can listen to *A Fisherman’s Faith* on major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Substack, Castbox, and Listen Notes. Until next time, keep your eyes on Christ, keep your heart humble, and keep pressing forward. 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
