How Do You Expect To Fill Your Net?

“Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”-John 21:4-6

“I’ve got this!” A common phrase shouted when things in our lives get difficult. We recognize how cumbersome a task is going to be and we proclaim with all of our might, “I’ve got this!”.

We get caught between a rock and a hard place, but we have no fear because we know we can handle it on our own. We might not be sure how, but we can do it. Well, at least we hope we can.

I wonder if this is how the disciples felt when Christ was crucified, dead, and buried? I wonder if they fled in confusion and fear, but as the days passed by, they figured they could handle life on their own and everything would work out.

As we see in the scripture reference above, Simon Peter got tired of sitting around and waiting and decided to go fishing. The other disciples followed his lead. They went fishing, caught nothing and grew weary. Now, I am only assuming they grew weary by the way they respond to Jesus when He asked if they caught anything. All they said was, “No.” The reality was, night was the ideal time to fish, but as day broke, Jesus challenged them to keep going and try something out of the norm.

They ended up catching more than they could take in! Let that sink in.

When they were doing what they were used to doing and following their own instinct, they were failing. They continued to struggle. They took it upon themselves to handle their difficult time and couldn’t get it right.

It wasn’t like they didn’t know what they were doing. They had been fishing for all of their life. They were experienced fisherman, in fact, that is they went back to doing exactly what they were doing when Christ called them. Their personal experience was met with failure.

Then, as they turned to Christ’s voice and listened to His guidance, they caught more than they could ever have expected.

How many of us are in that spot now? We are struggling in life. We have either heard of Christ or even experienced Him at one point, but we have leaned on our own strength to make it through our battle and we are failing. We can keep telling ourselves, “I got this”, but in reality you know you’re not strong enough to handle it and your net is empty.

What if you turned to Christ’s voice now? What if you listened to His guidance? What if you were willing to set your own strength aside and lean on what He tells you to do?

Perhaps you would find a new way to handle your issue? Perhaps you would find that Jesus is here telling you to try another side of your boat and is waiting for you to do it so He can fill your net with what you’re looking for?

You might be looking for financial security, but He might just give you financial peace. You might be looking for a better job or a job, but He might just show you how to do your job better and/or be content in your location. Jesus is not going to always do things the way we expect Him to, but He will provide what we need when and how we need it.

He showed up in the daytime and told professional fisherman how to do their job. He was honoring their experience, but also showing them an alternative to what they might have known. He filled their net.

May we find comfort in knowing we have a Savior who knows better than we do. May we find ourselves willing to trust Jesus with everything and rest in what He provides. May we be willing to listen and believe His words and trust that His ways are better than ours.

Peace and blessings friends.

QUESTION: Who are you trusting to fill your net?