5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:1-11

Peter had worked hard all night and had FAILED to catch any fish.  When morning came, he quit hoping for success.  He had washed his nets.  He was done. I don’t know how successful Peter had been up to this point.  I don’t know if it was a one-time fluke that his nets were empty.  I can imagine, however, that it would be discouraging to give your best effort to a project or task and have nothing to show for it at the end of the effort. What do we do with those moments and the feelings that result from them?  What do we do when it is our sin that creates the failures in our lives?  I want to offer you some suggestions from this story that can help you move forward from failure whether it follows your best efforts or your disobedience to God.

First, note that Jesus comes to us when we need recovery. Jesus saw Peter’s boat, and He got into it. The text doesn’t say He asked Peter if He could get in. He just did. Jesus inserted Himself into Peter’s less than finest hour.  He then asked Simon Peter to put the boat out a little from shore. Peter complied. The road to recovery involved interacting with Jesus.  Peter may not have understood that, but notice he didn’t resist it.

Peter could have said, “Get your own boat.”  He could have said, “We are on our way home now.”  He could have said, “I don’t have time to listen to a sermon right now.”  Sometimes the last thing we are interested in hearing when we have experienced failure is a sermon, but I guarantee you, it’s what we need every time.  

Let Jesus get into your boat.  

The boat wasn’t just a floating vessel.  It represented a whole lot more in Peter’s life.  It represented his livelihood.  There was financial failure involved here.  It also pointed to Peter’s prowess, his expertise, and his experience.  This wasn’t his first rodeo.  Fishing was what he knew.  This was something he was good at and yet he had come up empty.  There was professional failure here.  Finally, the boat was part of his identity.  He was a fisherman.  His failure was tied to who he was.  Peter, the fisherman, wasn’t a fisherman that day. There was personal failure here.

Allowing Jesus into that space, allowing Him onboard during a time of personal disaster or embarrassment, allowing Him to command what Peter was used to controlling, it was all part of the first step to his recovery.  We need to welcome Jesus into our boat when we are dealing with failure.  We need to let Jesus take control of our livelihood, our professional pursuits, our personal identity and dreams. That thing that we are used to controlling and commanding, we need to relinquish it to Him.

Recovering from failure begins by interacting with Jesus.

Part #2 of “Recovering From Failure” by Melissa Pratt is releasing June 7th