Day 110: Strong Enough to Hold

John 21:1-11

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?”They answered him, “No.” 6 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. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards[a] off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Today, we are going to focus on that last statement of this passage, “The net was not torn” I think this simple sentence is so important to this passage. God will prepare us for what is coming, and he will make sure we are strong enough to hold the magnificent blessings He will hail upon our lives.

These men had been out on this boat all night long fishing and caught nothing. All night, and as day was breaking, just in time for breakfast, Jesus comes and asks if they have any fish, after they said no, Jesus tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. My favorite part is that they didn’t question him, they did exactly as He said. They didn’t give an excuse saying, they had been fishing all night and they knew there was nothing. They could have, they could have said no. They could have told him that they had been out there all night. But I think they were out there because they were expecting something. They could have left in the first few hours after catching nothing. They could have left at midnight, when they didn’t catch anything. I’m not exactly sure how many times they threw the net in the water and came up with nothing but I’m going to guess it was several times seeing that they were out there there all night.

That’s how it is for us sometimes, when we are expecting something, when we want something, or need something. We throw our net out so many times and come back empty handed. We cast our net hoping for a few fish, and come back with nothing. We even drop our expectations, ‘Lord if I could have one just one, I’ll be alright.” And even then we come up with nothing. And after a while that empty net gets heavier and heavier, but we throw it in faith anyway. “Maybe this time we’ll catch something.” It’s hard not to fall into the mindset that it will never work, because so far, it hasn’t. But Jesus comes, and He says, “Throw that net out one more time, but throw it in this specific spot.”  Notice that Jesus didn’t say how much they would receive for throwing the net into the water. He simply says “throw it on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some”.

There are three things to note in this passage: Problem, instruction, solution. God is the solution to all of our problems but we must listen to and follow His instructions. God always has a solution, it never fails.   

Problem: They had no fish after fishing all night long.

Instruction: Throw the net on the right side of the boat.

Solution: They hauled in 153 fish.

There is a step in between ‘instruction’ and ‘solution’ called obedience, and this is where we decide how the story will end. What if they didn’t listen to Jesus? Them and everyone they were fishing for would have been hungry. They had to decide to take another chance, what would it hurt, what would they have to lose? Casting the net into the water again wasn’t that big of a deal, it’s quite simple actually. The challenge was listening to Jesus when he said cast the net into the water. But once we get over our preconceived notions then we will understand the simplicity of His instructions. If you want some fish keep casting that net. If you want some fish do what He says and you will receive. We have to make the choice to listen when God is calling. We have to choose to trust in His word. God is telling us exactly what to do, will we listen? It’s that moment of choosing to obey the word of God that could change our lives forever.

He has so many things prepared for us, and He is building us day by day preparing us for what is coming. When the disciples chose to listen to Jesus they were in store for something big, bigger than what they thought could happen. That seems to be just how God works. I know they were expecting fish but I wonder if they thought they would catch so many. When we put our faith in God He can and will go so far beyond what we ask or think, because He is God. The beauty in it all is that He will make sure that we are able to hold the enormous blessings He will shower us with. The scripture says they were dragging a net full of fish onto the shore. There were so many fish, but the net was not torn. God will make sure that whatever He has for us we are ready to receive. A lot of times we want God to bless us with everything at once, but God know what we can handle and how much we can’t. He is preparing us, so that when that enormous blessing comes our way we will be strong enough to hold it. We will not tear.

Reflection

1. Put yourself in the shoes of the disciples for a minute. You have been out all night fishing, you’ve caught nothing. All night and not one bite. It’s the crack of dawn and someone is one the shore, you don’t know who it is yet. They first ask you if you have any fish, after a long night of fishing you say no. He tells you to cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find them there. WOuld you do it?

Prayer Time

Ask God to help you heed His word and instruction, and be obedient to the things that He tells you to do. Find comfort in knowing that god is preparing you for what He has for you and whatever it is it will be great. Just listen to His instruction and move when He says move.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening, be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 111!