I sometimes feel a bit like Peter did on the day his life changed forever. Disappointed. Exhausted. A little angry. Precisely the worst kind of day for a divine appearance.
Peter had been fishing all night with nothing to show for his trouble. He comes back empty handed. He's frustrated with life and he decides to do the only thing he can do. Clean his nets and go home for the day. While he's in the middle of his task, along comes a rabbi followed by a crowd and without even asking, gets on his boat. Then just because his day couldn't get any worse, the rabbi tells him to move his boat a little bit away from the shore so he can address the crowds. I think Peter was too exhausted to even argue. He does as he was asked. The rabbi starts talking. In Luke 5:1-11 we're told of this incident. Luke doesn't tell us what Jesus taught the crowd from Peter's boat, probably because Peter wasn't even able to pay attention to His teaching. He was just worried for his family. Jesus finishes his sermon and turns to him and tells him to take the boat into deep waters and let down the nets for fishing. At this request Peter snaps out of his thoughts, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.'
There are times in every disciple's life that leave one speechless with God's audacity. Times when His way is so inconvenient, you just want to cry out with frustration. Or maybe it just happens to me.
I am not one of those meek people that Job-like accept things and bow their head. I always envied those people. They always seem to know something I don't or believe in a superior way to mine. Alas I am the type that will end up doing God's way grumbling all the way. And as much as I despise that in myself I never cease to make my sentiments known to Him, 'I mean, be reasonable, Lord! This is extremely inconvenient right now!' Yeah, no worries I am aware what a handful I can be for my Father. I do find comfort in the fact that He has seen and heard it all before.
Sometimes, I want to yell at Him, 'why do you want me to go back out there?! I've just been there and there is absolutely nothing. I mean if you had some different outcome in mind you should have told me while I was out there. But you waited until I got back on shore, took out those heavy nets, put them out to dry and now you want me to go out there again?!' And then I capitulate like Peter... 'But at your word, I will go out there again. At your word, I'll let down the nets. Again.'
In my most ungracious moments I used to think He's having fun at my expense. In my wiser moments I knew He wasn't.
In Peter's case, if he would have said, 'yeah, I am not gonna do that, go home rabbi!', he wouldn't have been hit by lightning from heaven for daring to speak that way. But nobody would ever know who this illiterate fisherman from Galilee was. He would have lived and died like every other fisherman in Galilee. But he took a good look at Jesus and then an even longer look at the empty sea and made his decision, 'I know what's out there. I know the other fishermen know as well. I know it's gonna cost me time and effort for nothing. But at your word, I'll go back out there one more time!' Because he chose to believe this crazy voice that told him to try again, Peter ceased to be a fisherman and became a fisher of men. People still talk about him to this day. All because on a random day, when he came back empty like many times before, he decided to believe. He caught so much fish that day that he filled two boats and they still struggled to carry all the catch. He could have lived a happy, comfortable life from that catch alone. But the whole incident wasn't about a fish trick. It was about him leaving the fish and the nets and the boats, and following after Jesus.
by Cristina Pop
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