John 21 has always been one of my favorite stories about Jesus and His disciples. Most of the attention understandably goes to the restoration of Peter. It is one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in Scripture. But as a bit of a detail nerd, I have always been drawn to what happens before Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”
Peter was tired. After the resurrection, Jesus had told the disciples (through Mary) to meet him in Galilee. So they went. Imagine the anticipation. They had seen the empty tomb. They knew Jesus was alive! Yet, imagine the condition Peter’s stomach would have been in. Excitement, yet shame and guilt. He had denied Jesus. He had watched the crucifixion. He had experienced the confusion, grief, and fear of those days. Now he had made the journey to Galilee only to find an empty boat.
So Peter says, “I’m going fishing.” I wonder if there was more behind those words than simply wanting to pass the time. It could have been a distraction from the anxiety. Fishing was familiar. It came easy to him. Maybe Peter just wanted to go back to something he could make sense of. I think every ministry leader has those days.
There are seasons when the calling is exciting and God’s direction seems unmistakable. Then there are seasons of waiting. Seasons when God seems quiet. Seasons when ministry feels heavy and you wonder if it would be easier to just go fishing. Seasons when you feel like you are paying a price for thinking of yourself for once.
I love what happens next in the narrative: from the shore, comes a voice. “Throw your net on the right side of the boat.” Peter had heard something like that before from the exact same shore (Luke 5). Frustratingly (I assume) Peter obeys and suddenly the net is full of fish (for the second time), and John shouts, “It is the Lord!”
Peter doesn’t hesitate. He jumps into the water and heads for shore. Peter had once walked (and sunk) on that water but this time, his arms have him moving quickly. And Peter gets to the shore and finds Jesus…waiting beside a charcoal fire. That detail gets me every time. The last charcoal fire mentioned in John’s Gospel was the one Peter stood beside while denying that he even knew Jesus (John 18:18). Jesus knew exactly what Peter was carrying. And yet Jesus doesn’t mention a thing about it. He just sets the fire and then takes Peter away from it. And He brings Peter back to what mattered most: “Do you love me? Then feed my sheep.”
Ministry can take us through an incredible range of emotions. The excitement of God’s call. The anticipation of what He might do. The frustration of waiting. The temptation to retreat to what is comfortable. The thrill of seeing God move in a changed heart. The heartbreak of that same life falling back into old patterns. And sometimes, the crushing weight of our own failures. I have experienced all of them. And late at night when I try to sleep, the memories and feelings pound hard. Yesterday always seems to have me questioning tomorrow.
I don’t know about you, but God has never revealed to me a grand plan for the next ten years. More often, He has simply asked me to be faithful with the next step. And even in seasons when I felt like I had failed, wanted to quit, or would have gladly spent the rest of my life fishing, God still met me there.
In so many well-known stories in the Bible, faithfulness is often much smaller than we imagine. Throughout Scripture, faithfulness is simply taking the next step God puts in front of you. Pick up the stone. Touch the river. Fill the jars. Pour the oil. Take a nap. Drop the nets. Throw them out one more time. God rarely showed His people the entire plan. He simply asked them to trust Him enough to take the next step.
In many ways, that is what our partners do when they get involved with Church Investors Fund. Hundreds of individuals and churches take seemingly small steps of faithfulness with the resources God has entrusted to them. Together, those acts help other churches, pastors, planters, and ministries pursue the huge plans that God has placed before them. We then watch buildings get built and ministries expand. Doors get opened to new communities. More room is made for sheep to be fed.
This world so desperately needs Jesus. And that same Jesus is calling you to nothing more than faithful obedience. Meet me, wait, throw out the net, walk with me, love me, feed My sheep.
Forget about yesterday. Just be faithful today.
