No Fish, No Problem

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 

And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. 

Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”   

Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”  And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear;  so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking.

But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. 

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Luke 5:1-11 

If you know anything about fishermen, you know they like to brag about the fish they catch, so this for Simon was a humbling moment when he confessed they had caught no fish. Yet, here he was, face to face with Jesus and he did as he was told and caught so many fish, that he had to call for help to bring them in.  

I look at this and think how sometimes when we are ready to quit some failing venture, that something happens that brings us enough success that we decide to carry on. That is the way it is with God, when are down to nothing, God is up to something.   

And, for Simon, James and John that is exactly what happened - Jesus called them to be His Disciples and they left everything and followed Him.

So, when you think you are not successful, remember that God's plans are bigger than our plans, and, He will open doors for you to find success.