“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” ~ Luke 5:5

For years I followed Gallup’s annual survey on public trust. The trend used to be predictable. We trusted nurses, doctors, and teachers. We were more skeptical of politicians and salespeople. But over the last decade, trust has eroded almost everywhere. Institutions. Leaders. Churches. Experts. Even our neighbors. We have become a remarkably skeptical culture.

What I find fascinating, however, is this: while our trust in almost everyone else has declined, our trust in ourselves has quietly increased.

We assume everyone else has blind spots, biases, and hidden agendas, yet rarely consider that the hardest person to evaluate objectively may be ourselves.

Paul understood, however, that we are often the least trustworthy. In Romans 7:18-19 he writes some of the most human words I have ever read: For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

That is why Proverbs tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Simon Peter’s life comes to a similar conclusion.

By the time we arrive at Luke 5, Jesus has already encountered Simon more than once. Simon has heard Jesus. He has watched Him heal his mother-in-law. Jesus has been patiently revealing Himself, never forcing belief but steadily inviting trust. Then comes the familiar scene. After an entire night without catching a single fish, Jesus tells the professional fisherman to lower his nets once again.

Everything Simon knew argued against it. His experience disagreed. His expertise disagreed. His instincts disagreed.

Yet he utters one of the most remarkable statements in Scripture: “Because you say so, I will.” (Luke 5:5)

That sentence marks the beginning of discipleship; not because Simon suddenly understood everything; not because the circumstances finally made sense, but because trust had become greater than self-reliance.

Discipleship always begins there. It is the slow process of transferring our confidence from ourselves to Christ. It is learning that God is trustworthy long before we understand His ways.

What might your own “But because you say so…” moment look like today?