Giving up is a luxury that we cannot afford to pay. When things go wrong, as they surely will, the only real failure is giving up!
Sometimes we are submerged with problems. And when nothing works, we feel like giving up. What is the use to continue?
We often struggle with all our energy and expertise. When you are a fishing company with personnel to pay you cannot afford even one day without catching fish.
What Peter and his crew were facing was the failure of their best efforts. In spite of all their professional expertise and their know-how, they had worked all night without the least result.
“Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” Has that happened to you?
But giving up is not an option!
When Jesus (who was a carpenter and not at all a fisherman) said, « Go out to where the water is deep and drop your nets to fish », they could have said, « What does He know about our profession? Forget it»!
You can also say, « You don’t know anything about my situation». Who are you to tell me what to do?
But unbelief (refusing an instruction from Jesus) will push us to stay put or to give up. But what do you know? We may be only 2 seconds away from a miracle!
Peter was learning to trust Jesus
The other miracle in this story is the change in Peter’s attitude. It has been a while that Peter watched what Jesus was doing.
- Jesus was not a doctor but he healed people
- He was not a Rabbi or scribe but he countered the specialists with a Word of authority
- No staying in his ivory tower to stay “pure” though they said he was the Messiah.
- He did not hesitate to touch lepers and had his own idea of what could be done the Sabbath.
And he always practiced what he preached.
So a miracle happened in Peter’s heart. He could trust this Man. Later on, he would confess:
Luc 9:20 «But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah .”
Giving up or allowing your faith to become a spiritual experience
But at this precise moment, his faith became more real, and his spiritual experience deepened because he obeyed at the very moment that others would have given up.
« But because you say so, I will let down the nets. ». (Luke 5.5)
Is it useful to continue when nothing has worked up to now?
Benjamin Franklin once said that the definition of insanity was to do the same things day after day
yet expect different results.
But instead of drowning in your circumstances, there is still something you can do
- Read your Bible
- Find a specific promise that applies to your situation
- And ask God in prayer to apply it to your circumstance knowing that God loves to give gifts to his children.
But check if there is not one extra step (fulfilling a condition) required for God to release the blessing in your situation. You probably know already what it is.
In the case of Peter and his crew, they could not receive the blessing by staying on the shore. The condition was to make the effort to push the boat off the beach and set the sails until they were in the “deep water” area where the miracle was going to happen.
If no other instruction, the key is offering the “sacrifice of praise”, knowing that God is working behind the scenes to accomplish His promise. This creates a favorable environment for miracles to happen.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (Hebrews 13.15)
One extra step
It is not because you haven’t found the solution yet, that the solution does not exist!
God knows where the answer is to be found. He can guide your spirit to the solution. And it will be revealed if you go a couple of steps further in your obedience to His Word.
Remember, success often has “failure” as a starting point. So hold on and rejoice! The only real failure is giving up!
You are probably only a couple of minutes away from a miracle!
That is your word for today.
Download the text for this message here
(Day 9) Is walking by faith taking a risk?
(Day 11) What a crazy idea to build an Ark
Invite others to subscribe
If you are enjoying these messages
Please share the link to the website https://biblefaithmadepractical.com with your contacts.
If you want, you can invite them to subscribe to these “Stand Up, Stand Out Motivation from the Bible” messages. It’s FREE!
All they need to do is download the eBook “My Presence is your Reward” (The true story about David and Goliath) and you will also get access to 2 Bible motivation messages per week. Click Here.
(Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link below any email).
If you would like some more details about this free offer please go to https://biblefaithmadepractical/subscribe/