Painting by Alexei Birvukoff
There is a great story in the Bible where Jesus was at the shore of a huge lake, looking out over the water. He was watching a boat approaching: His disciple Peter was returning home from a fruitless night of fishing. Peter must have been discouraged. Who wouldn’t be after working their tail off and seeing no results? As he stowed away his gear, he glanced up and noticed someone standing on the beach: Jesus.
“Hey Peter, throw your nets out on the other side of the boat”. Jesus hollered out to him.
That’s nuts, Peter thinks. He just doesn’t understand. We’ve been at this for hours and hours.
“I’ve been fishing all night,” Peter hollered back, “we haven’t caught a thing.”
Silence. I can just hear Peter talking to himself:
OK, Peter, that was kind of stupid. Jesus knows everything. I’m sure He is aware that it’s not been a good night of fishing. Yet still…he said to put my nets back down, this time on the other side of the boat. Maybe he knows something I don’t know about where the fish are. I’ve seen him do some pretty amazing stuff. Like the whole feeding the 5000 thing. [sigh] If Jesus says to do this, it is probably worth a shot to haul up the nets and throw them out one more time, wherever He says to throw them.
“OK guys let’s do this,” Peter ordered. “Grab the nets, and cast them on the far side of the boat.”
His crew might have just stood there, incredulous. They were as bone-weary as Peter was, and were savvy enough fishermen to know when to pack it in. Maybe they muttered a few choice comments to each other, waiting for Peter to come to his senses.
Peter didn’t care. He knew Jesus. They didn’t.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” He shouted. “Get moving.”
The sailors suddenly scrambled into action. They gathered the nets, and then cast them once more, this time in a most unpromising place. Or was it? Their skepticism shifted to awe as their nets immediately started filling with a catch so huge that they started to break.
Peter just shook his head, bemused. He’d seen Jesus do this kind of thing before. Yet even with all Peter’s experiences–after having witnessed miracle after miracle–it was still so easy for Peter to forget who Jesus was, and what God could do.
2000 years later, nothing has changed.
It is so easy for us to forget who Jesus is, and what God can do.
In our lives today, it is so easy to forget who Jesus is, and what God can do. We have seen God do amazing things in our lives–and the lives of others–yet when we face difficulties, we tend to focus on the problem instead of keeping our eyes fixed on The Solution. We worry about what we see, instead of looking beyond to what God is doing. When we fixate on the problem, we might get to work trying to find a solution on our own. The busier we get “solving problems,” the more distracted we can become, and it gets harder and harder to remember what—and Who—is important.
In overcoming problems in our lives, we must stay focus on God, and do our best to follow His lead.
Next week: our problems are not the problem.
How do you stay focused on God when you have problems?
Recent posts: Circling Back, Sharing a Sunset, Enjoying God’s Presence.
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