Today’s devotional message is from a morning devotion I had with my late godmother back in 2018 – it is probably the only memory of her left in my mind right now as I can’t think of anything else.
The core message is obedience to God and as I look at Luke 5 where we picked our anchor verse from I could not help but notice something really deep.
Here was Peter, as a fisherman, he has spent at least two decades in this career line. If practice makes perfect, Peter was a veteran fisherman at this point. He knew all the places at sea where the best fish will be, he knew how to angulate and throw out his net to catch fish, he knew what time of the day was perfect for fishing.
In verse 2, Peter and his group had ducked at the bank of the sea and were out of their boats washing their nets. That was the routine – search for fish in the middle of the night, sort the fish at daybreak, go to sell, then return to wash nets.
But because they had caught nothing all through the night, they decided to just wash their nets.
Jesus then comes along, he sees the boat belonging to Peter and asks him to push a bit into the sea so he can use the boat as his podium to preach. Peter obliged and Jesus taught the people.
In verse 4 of Luke 5, the Bible tells us that when Jesus was done with His sermon, he told Simon
… Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Of course, Peter knew that was impossible. At that time of the day, the chances of catching any good fish were gone. This was why his response from our anchor verse was “we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing.”
If you take a closer look at this, there were better responses to this request right?
I mean Peter could have said “now is not a great time” or “fishes cannot be caught at this time of the day.” In my opinion, what Peter was doing is what professionals do when they see that someone does not know their job very well and do not want to bother them with the “technicalities” of their profession.
Peter just wanted Jesus to see the effort he already put into catching fish – we have toiled all night.
Essentially, I have worked so hard on this project that you cannot tell me something to try that I have not done.
This could be you in several ways.
You have studied how to run a business for years and you have been running several businesses and you have still not found a way to break through.
Or you have been looking for admission or scholarships and you have tried and tried and haven’t gotten in despite the quality of your application.
There are many ways that we relate to Peter in trying and not seeing results. And no matter how resilient you are as a person, there is always a breaking point. A point where you become too tired to try not just because you are physically tired but because you are not mentally and psychologically ready to try again and not get the result you want.
However, like Peter, when God tells you to try again, please do.
Peter said “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” He was basically saying I am not doing this again because I think it is the right time or because I want to do it, in fact I am tired in every way you can think of, but because you are saying it, I’d do it.
This is what faith is about.
Faith believes it can be done because God says it can be done not because I think it should be done.
That is why today’s devotional is encouraging you. If God is already speaking to you and urging you to try again – to give love another chance, to apply for that job again, to start that business again, to submit that bid again – then do it.
In Peter’s case, the Bible records in Luke 5:6:
And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
With God this time, you can’t fail. With His leading, you can be sure that He is with you and He won’t let His promises fall to the ground.
So this new week, let down your nets again.