BEFORE YOU QUIT (2) – I KNOW YOU’VE LOST TIME

Luke 5: 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing (NLT)

All Night and Caught Nothing

In every 24-hour day, we have night and day. The end of the night signifies the beginning of the morning. Just like the day, our lives are in times and seasons. A time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to get into college and a time to graduate, a time when you’re dependent on your parents and a time when you learn to be independent. And with each season of our lives we have expectations, dreams and goals we want to see accomplished in a certain season. But then life happens and we find that just like Peter there are areas where we have toiled all night but caught nothing. We did all we could but didn’t accomplish what we wanted in that season. Truth be told, it hurts, hurts that you were never able to accomplish what you desired in a certain season. Time is lost and you can never go back. Now you are hunted by the past, tired of pressing, and like Peter you are packing your nets. It’s over, the night is gone and we can’t fish during the day. The season is gone, I would never get the child, the home, the job, the ministry (whatever yours is) that I had wanted. The pain of lost time sets in, regret comes in and it does not just keep you dwelling in past failures but it robs you of your today and tomorrow. 

If you’re in the place where it seems like you’ve lost time, opportunities or experienced a loss, I come bearing glad tidings from Jesus. Listen I cannot explain how this happens, but just like Jesus showed up in Peter’s boat, He is showing up in yours today. And if like Peter you listen to His instruction regarding that loss, you too like peter would experience His overflow.

Think about it for a second, Jesus tells Peter to lunch out and let down his nets again. Peter does and he gets the biggest catch ever! Peter had to call others to come help him, his boat that was once empty was beginning to sink because of the catch. He was amazed. If you were Peter wouldn’t you look back and say; thank God, I toiled all night and caught nothing. If Peter had caught the fish he expected too, maybe he would have left before Jesus showed up. Or maybe he would have no need to go back to cast his net because he already had what he needed.

What’s my point? The season was past, naturally speaking Peter should not have been able to catch any fish when the night was already past. But because we serve a Father who is above the natural, we cannot let the natural processes place limitations in our heart. I’m saying that in the area of loss, pain or disappointment, God in His mercy is able to show up in such a way that you would look back to that loss and thank Him for it.  God will show up in a way that you have no regret what so ever about that past loss. If I were Peter I would be so happy I had caught nothing all night because that set the stage for me to encounter God and the biggest catch ever. The stage is also set in your life, and Jesus has an instruction for you just like Peter. So, before you quit, before you pack your nets and leave, would you just pause and listen to His instruction?

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Love Always. Obebi