Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.  John 21:1-6 

In this section of Scripture, we recognize one of the most popularly cited miracles that Jesus performed.  As an avid fisherman, it comes up at least once a trip to “try casting out of the other side of the boat” if we are not catching anything.  While this miracle clearly displays Christ’s power over nature and His creation, it also speaks to an equally important lesson in regard to Peter, the spotlight of this particular series.

After the crucifixion of Jesus, we find that Peter has returned to a familiar pattern, he goes fishing. This is an extremely common practice that we humans tend to repeat over and over again.  When something happens in our lives that skew the outcome that we had planned, we will inherently fall back into a model that brings us a sense of comfort and perceived peace, even if it is contradictory to what God has planned for our lives. It is difficult to continue on a path that seems riddled with road blocks, and makes an excuse to move to an easier route, or to just remain idle a very attractive option.

Like Peter, God has a plan that He intends to fulfill through us. When we face adversity, it is paramount that we push forward and closer to Him, as opposed to going back to the way we have always done it. His ways are not ours, and we are called upon to trust Him fully.

Have a great week!

~Danny