John 21:3
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing.
Beware of Destiny Anchors Masquerading as Life Boats.
Setting the stage, the verse above happens after Jesus has been resurrected and showed Himself to some of the disciples. However in this chapter, we see that sorrow and despair is still very much what Simon Peter and several other disciples are living under. They are down, dejected, isolated and despondent.
Peter is in an especially dark place. He saw Jesus whom he loved, hung on a cross. Beyond his affection for Jesus as a mentor and friend, He represented the entirety of Peter’s hopes and future. As if that were not enough, his own personal failings had compounded things even more. In Jesus’ darkest hour, he had denied him not once, not twice, but three times.
It is in this moment, that Peter declares that he is going fishing. Curious that of all the things Peter could do, he chooses to return to something that resembles his past life. The verse takes care to point out that they went into the boat “immediately”. Funny how in our darkest moments, our past is always eagerly available to us, beckoning us into the embrace of familiarity.
FRUITLESSNESS
The writer makes a point to tell us the grand total of the disciples night of fishing. Zero, zilch, nada, nothing, goose egg. In our effort to reduce the pressure of the moment or to try and gain a foothold in an out-of-our control situation, if we retreat to the familiar or what may have worked in the past season, we make a covenant with fruitlessness. This is the opposite of what God wants for us. Momentary relief will come at a huge price. As we see in this story, the only way to the other side of something, is by confronting it face to face.
FAMILIAR AND AVAILABLE DOES NOT = DIVINE OPPORTUNITY
Many will be deceived into selling their birthright in the marketplace of the familiar and the comfortable. Be careful in this season when doors begin to open to you. Discern whether what is opening before you is exciting and feels good because it is the Holy Spirit leading you or whether it is because it looks familiar and comfortable and along the lines of what you have been called to before and in your own assessment, being the next logical step.
DO NOT GET INTO THE BOAT
When you are on the verge of stepping into your new season of promise, it is a very tumultuous moment. You will find yourself in a sea of activity happening around you, underneath you, above you and inside of you. Still yet, others on the verge will find themselves in a moment where they perceive everything is pointing to the death of their destiny and future rather than to the beginning of it. It is in these moments that God is saying, “Do not back away from your promise or your future”
DO NOT DISQUALIFY YOURSELF
Peter has disqualified himself from his destiny and future but not in the way you might think. It is not his actions that have done this, it is his own assessment of who he is and how royally he has messed things up.
When things are crazy, we are rarely the best versions of ourselves. We say things we don’t mean, we do things we aren’t proud of, and for many of us, much of our time is spent rehashing ways that we could done things better. This results in us declaring to ourselves, “You know what, maybe this isn’t for me. Who would want me now? Who could use me now?”
In getting in the boat, Peter is declaring to himself and the other disciples that he is not worthy of the investment that Jesus had placed on him. When he immediately gets into that boat, he is giving up on his future.
EMBRACE THE GRACE
It is in this dark place that Jesus must intervene to save Peter from this difficult season of self sabotage. We have the benefit of being able to read ahead in the story and see the beautiful way in which Jesus leads Peter out of his shame and into his future as a pillar in the Church that is about to be birthed into existence. If we have not behaved the best in our season of transition, if we wish we could have done things differently or flat out failed, we have to be willing to embrace the grace that Jesus wants to extend to us.
This will be one of the hardest things we have to do in this season but it is essential if we are to trade in our anchors for sails. (sorry that was really cliche)
I encourage you to take some time out to allow God to illuminate areas in your prophetic process that you might need to grab a hold of His grace and let go of some toxic beliefs about yourself and how you’ve been doing that have been keeping you from transitioning into the new. Also, my prayer for you is that God would illuminate your eyes with a greater level of discernment in this season to see from His perspective how to navigate as doors open to you.