“Merciful Lord”

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this

way He showed Himself: 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 are going with you also." They went out and immediately got

into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus

stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them,

"Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on

the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to

draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,

"It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for

he had removed it) and plunged into the sea.

John 21:1-7

Christianity is not about people making up the rules in response to their self-estimations. Today’s passage

shows us what I think a lot of us would be prone to do if left to ourselves: abandon ship when we feel

we’ve failed too much. What was Peter doing in this passage? Going back to what he used to be

successful at. Notice that he didn’t catch anything when left to himself, but when Jesus came and gave

the command, he and the other disciples soon had too many fish to haul in. It may just seem like some

night fishing to some of you reading this, but what Peter was doing was rejecting himself from being a

servant of God. He didn’t feel himself worthy after his betrayal of Jesus, even though we know that he

had seen Jesus alive again at this time. He did what you or I might just be tempted to do in our own ways.

Jesus, I’ll never sin (this way) again. Jesus, I did it again….Jesus, I keep losing my temper and it keeps

hurting others…Jesus, I’m just not that committed and I don’t keep up with things like I should…Jesus,

I’m drowning in these difficulties and I just want out. I can’t do it. I cannot serve you successfully so I

might as well go back to doing what I did before You came along…Jesus, don’t you see that I’m a lost

cause? Jesus, how on earth could you ever not look at me with disgust and disappointment? Jesus, I’ve

apologized so many times and yet I still keep failing You. You cannot seriously love me knowing what You

know…Jesus, I’m such a failure, why waste your time on me? Certainly somebody else could do this

better than me...Jesus, I’m just…I’m just going to go. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Wait…please don’t leave me.

I am so confused. I don’t know what to do with myself.

Pause. You probably know what I’m talking about. I’ve said many of those things, and not ten years ago

but more easily within the last year. I’ve claimed Jesus as my Savior for over thirty-six years now and still I

have those moments. Jesus doesn’t need my excuses or my self-depreciation or self-dismissal. He just

needs my faith, that I trust Him to do what He needs to do and don’t doubt Him when He asks me, me of

all people, to go and do this or that for Him. Where my sin is great, His grace is greater. Now please

understand, I’m not dismissing repentance in saying all of this, but I am saying that there’s no such thing

as a person who’s ever going to be used of God who doesn’t also have their constant battles with sin and

doubt and pride and so forth. There will always be an excuse for you to walk away from Christ, always a

reason for why He messed up when asking you to serve Him, always something that will render you not

enough. Nevertheless, it’s Him that you need to be listening for, not the record playing that garbage in the

back of your mind.

Where my love is faltering, His never fails. Keep going. When you fall off the horse, get back up and keep

riding. Do it however many times you need to, but don’t quit. He is faithful. Repent where you need to but

trust Him in all things. Let the Lord woo your heart and guide you wherever He so wishes. It is certain you

will fail Him along the way, but if you wait until you think you’ve got that well under control, you’ll never do

it. So just follow as He leads, please, as I implore you as one unworthy sinner forgiven by God’s grace to

another. God uses broken, sinful, wretched sinners saved by grace to accomplish His great plans every

day. Be one of those people that finds confidence in His call. I hope you’ll be brave and blessed today.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.