Jesus With Us: Live Like Jesus, Love Like JesusSample

Try and Try Again

You don’t need to be a fisherman to imagine how it feels to spend a whole night fishing with not even a bite to show for it. You’d be tired. You’d be discouraged. You’d be frustrated. You’d be ready to give up. Someone coming along and offering you unsolicited advice would be the last thing you’d want. Would you have followed Jesus’s advice, or would you have ignored it and called it a night?

Jesus’s ways are unexpected. He might call you to do something that seems silly or useless—like trying something you’ve already tried a hundred times before. Don’t despair. Keep going and keep your mind open. Something is coming. Perhaps the hundred-and-first try is when everything will click into place and really get going. Can you imagine what it will feel like when it does?

Get comfortable saying yes to Jesus. He knows what He’s doing. When He asks you to wait, it’s often because He has something greater in store than what you were hoping for. Apparent delays that result in abundant blessings can revitalize your faith and the faith of those around you.

What do you think Peter was feeling when he fell to his knees before Jesus?

What keeps you from pursuing the bigger purpose of following Jesus?

Lord Jesus, help me to have faith when it looks like my efforts aren’t doing anything. Give me the strength to say yes to You more often, even when I don’t feel like it. Thank You for always being there and letting me come back to You over and over again. In Your Name, Amen.