Try It One More Time

Try again

After Jesus was crucified, Peter and some other disciples went back to where they were from and started fishing again. Fishing was something they were naturally comfortable with, and they knew how to do it. Yet, after working all night they had caught nothing.

They heard somebody yell from the shore asking if they had caught anything.  They yelled back that they hadn’t caught any fish. They person yelled again,

“Try again on the other side boat.”

One of the guys shrugged his shoulders and said, “What’ve we got to lose?” Peter was too tired to argue, so they threw the net out on the other side. Even in their wildest dreams they’d never had seen so many fish.

John started to figure things out. “Peter, that’s Jesus!” he said. But Peter was already swimming for shore. As Peter was swimming he remembered that this wasn’t the first time Jesus had given he and his friends strange instructions for fishing.

There was the time when Jesus told them to go into deeper water (where no one had ever caught fish before), and their nets were filled like never before. Then there was the time when they needed some money and Jesus told them to catch a fish and there would be gold in its mouth.

When you’re about to give up

When things aren’t going right it’s easy to get frustrated and discouraged, even confused. You can be tempted to take matters into your own hands, or worse, just give up.

Then Jesus shows up in your situation and tells you to do something that seems silly or illogical. He requires you to trust him and operate in faith. What then transpires is something that could never happen if you were left on your own—a miracle!

In the middle of difficulties, especially reoccurring ones, the temptation to give up can be great. But the possibility for a miracle is greater! It’s in these times that God will teach you how great he is, building your faith, and then giving you a testimony of what he did, and what he can do.

So try it one more time.