Nevertheless

No one has to go to hell. There is a choice, and all of us have to make it. The Bible is the inspired word of God down to the punctuation. God put it there for a reason.  In this portion of scripture Peter is faced with two things which are opposite yet tied together. One word can make the difference. Things don’t have to be what they are or continue as they are. Before Peter was a door never opened, a dream never thought of. Then he paused. Peter’s life was changed by saying one word. If we do it our life will change. Let’s pause today and look at someone who can make it different. We’ll see the importance of trusting regardless of how things are going.

Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

When the sun came up that morning Peter and the others had caught no fish.  He saw defeat in his efforts to catch anything. He should have been able to. He had the right bait; he went to the right spot. He did all he knew but the nets were empty. He had no idea his life was about to change.

How about you? Are you coming up empty? Has your net been full a few times but lately it comes back empty. Maybe you’ve done it right just like the fishermen did, yet nothing happened. You seek help and it doesn’t come. Have you ever felt that way?

Life is a tough sea to fish in. We’re supposed the have the victory, yet we lose. We can’t figure out why. We come up short. We’re faithful. We read your Bible. We come to church. We’ve done all we can think of.  You may say to yourself “I’ve given it my best shot. I’ve tried to handle it. I’ll just quit.”  Had Peter quit fishing early, he would have gone home and missed Jesus. The first person Peter saw that morning was Jesus.

The Master is at our shore as well. So what if there is no answer now. Go ahead and pray. So what if you don’t see it now. Go ahead and be faithful. Do your best, but Jesus being on the shore makes the difference. Jesus didn’t promise he’d answer soon. He told us to seek and we would find him. We fail ourselves, but Jesus does not.  It’s not about our prosperity or how we feel about things. The important thing is that Jesus is on our shore. This fact turned Peter’s life around.

Jesus asked Peter and Andrew if he would get in their boat. While they were clearing things up, they could listen to Jesus. What they heard surprised them. Jesus told them to go back for a draught of fish. Peter had toiled all night. He used all his expertise. We do the same. We should never patronize God. Don’t tell God he doesn’t know what it’s like.  He created the sea and the fish that were in it. It’s not as important to have a full net as it is to trust Jesus.  Jesus didn’t pet Peter. He didn’t baby him. He didn’t debate with him.  He said with confidence “let down your nets.” Then he was silent. After all his debating with the Lord Peter paused.

Sometimes we can’t hear the Lord because our eyes and ears are on everything else. Pause. Consider the Lord. Remember his power. Jesus told them to do something and not give up. He’ll never excuse us due to a good try. The devil wants us to quit. Jesus speaks to us in confidence. He’s not an iffy Savior. He didn’t tell Peter “hopefully you’ll get some fish.” He said for them to do it.

Peter took a good look. He paused and said “nevertheless.” Peter did it at the word of Jesus. Regardless of how it was looking he trusted the Lord. He put down the net and it was so full he needed help to get it up and still it broke.  The question is not is there anything in our net. It is “are we willing to take Jesus at his word?”  Are we willing to take what’s in our net?

When Peter realized he did what seemed pointless and got a boat full of fish, he knew it was because Jesus told him to do it. What is pointless to us may not be please God. When he saw what happened he didn’t talk about fish; he fell down and confessed himself a sinner.

We have no idea what will happen when we pause and listen to the Lord. Peter was to take a new life catching men instead of fish. Jesus knew what would make him happy. He got more than he ever dreamed possible all because he paused and considered the one who told him to go back to the water. When he considered Jesus he said “nevertheless.”

Are you willing to set aside what’s keeping you down and say “nevertheless?” It is three words: never, the, and less.  It is “never the less” with the Lord.  It is always more.