Amazed

"After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn." John 21:1-11 (ESV)



The most difficult journey you will ever embark on is the one back to the place where you failed.

Peter is out in a boat, again. Once again he has fished all night long and caught nothing, except maybe a cold. Once again the sea hasn't provided him his livelihood.

As a guy that has fished a few times in his life I understand that frustration that Peter is dealing with not to mention someone asking that question, "Catch any fish?" Peter and John look at each other and I can imagine what they are thinking, "Really? Did they just ask us that?" But when the person on the shore tells them to try the other side, Peter must have taken a moment to think back to another time he was told to try the other side of the boat. So Peter, probably thinking what could it hurt, cast his nets on the opposite side of the boat and waits. Thing is there wasn't any waiting. The ropes suddenly pull tight in their hands and the net catches. Peter begins to struggle to bring the net into the boat. He was so distracted with this large catch of fish that Peter missed the message in this whole thing. John didn't. He calls out, "It's the Lord!"

Peter realizing he had missed it dives into the cold water, swims to shore, and stands shivering and cold in front of the friend he betrayed. Jesus was sitting there around a fire that he had prepared. Peter had failed God, but as He does so many times, God had came to him. Peter has once again found the grace he so desperately needed. Grace at Galilee.

Now imagine for a moment, that it is just you and God. You both know what you did or said. And neither one of you is proud of it. What do you do? Do you fall down on your knees? Do you stand there and try to explain the reasons why? Or do you do as Peter did? Peter stood in God's presence, in awe of who and what He is, silent because the words that he had were not sufficient. I have found that when I am at that point there are no words I can say all I can do is stand still and wait. I stand amazed.

Amazed you might ask? Yes, amazed that no matter what I have done, what I have said, that God would accept me back and offer the same amount of necessary grace to redeem my soul. I stand in awareness of God's presence. And that my friend is a great place to stand.