John 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
Most agree that Peter was going back to what he knew and to what had provided for his needs before he began to follow Christ. So many things come to my mind in thinking about this event. Was it Peter’s denial of Christ that caused him to go back to what he was doing before? I certainly can relate to that.
Personal failure seems to always bring us to a point of giving up or surrendering our purpose. The only replacement for having purpose in life is a life that produces nothing but mere existence. Once you embrace purpose in Christ and work in the kingdom, nothing else can compare. If we are filled with nothing but thoughts of our personal failure, then our vision is shifted to ourselves instead of looking at the redemptive work of Christ in our life. We know that Jesus forgives and restores us to fellowship with Him and meaning in life. But forgiving ourselves becomes almost impossible. Peter would be stuck in a cycle of unproductive fishing until he met with Jesus over the issue in his life.
Constantly looking at your own personal failures will produce a self-absorbed existence filled with regret, wasted opportunities, and feelings of worthlessness. When under this bondage, we can only go back to what we were doing when everything was easier.
Was Peter struggling with his own personal failure of denying he knew Jesus, and that’s why he decided to go back to a life of fishing? Is that the answer? To be at one time a fisher of men now to be relegated to fishing for something that according to the bible he could not even catch. How interesting that it says that night they caught nothing. Even going back to the old life wouldn’t work.
One of the problems with going back to fishing for Peter was the people that followed him. Peter’s response to his own personal failures were leading others to respond the same way. When others see us go astray to our own self-loathing, they seem to follow that more rapidly than they do when they see you follow Christ.
We know the end of the story. Peter met with Jesus and the solution was for Peter to get back to the designed purpose he was created for. It wasn’t an extensive conversation between Peter and the Lord. Jesus didn’t go into the psychology of why Peter denied Him. Jesus only asked Peter do you love me? The answer was yes. Jesus then replied, then feed my sheep. Peter was to become the preacher on the day of Pentecost which would bring 3000 souls into the kingdom. Staying engaged in the divine purpose of God for your life is the only way to navigate your way through the minefield of attacks that Satan has laid out before us.
Personal failure filled with regret will follow us but can be used to sharpen us into the vessel that brings more glory to the Lord. Indeed, what Satan means for evil, God will use it for good. My prayer is that I will stay the course regardless of the cost. My prayer is that I will stick with God’s design and allow others to follow as I follow Christ. May we leave the fishing behind and becomes fishers of what God wants us to catch. That supply will be endless.
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