"KNOCKED OUT" IN THE BOAT AND IN THE BOUT!

By Jeff Gatdula I'm going out to sh, Simon Peter told them, and they said, We'll go with you. So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. (John 21:3) [Note: I suggest that you read the entire chapter to get the bigger picture of the story] Peter was an expert sherman. At a time when he thought that he was already retired from "shing for men," he went back to what we know he does best - shing for sh. We were told that they stayed up all night. Waited for the perfect time, for the perfect throw and for the perfect time to haul. But he caught nothing! Perhaps he tried it for a second time, a third, a fourth, and so on until nally when all hope was lost, he gave up. How can someone so expert in what he does suddenly fall at on his face, as if without any evidence of his expertise? How can someone so accustomed to reading the winds and the waves and the tides and the seasons in the seas nd himself sh-less, as if without a testament of his training in the trade? Things happen for a reason. And the reason I believe is not about Peter but about Jesus - The Master Carpenter who knew all things about shing! This moment was a sorry loss to Peter. It was the second time he was knocked down. The rst was when he denied the Lord three times. Same pain, same shame. And that's how the world will judge you whenever you fall down. You are not good enough. You have lost the "touch." You are not as fast, not as strong, not as skilled anymore. The world always has reasons for your failure. They have every word to describe how you have fallen and why you have fallen. And it is all because of you! You mismanaged! You miscalculated! You made a mistake! The world has every reason to count you out. But not Jesus. This God-Man has every reason to count you in! When society has every right to disqualify you, His love will always welcome you

and accept you. When the world has been too crowded for losers and strugglers, His grace is always ready to embrace you. When everybody has left because of the tragedy that befell you, you can be sure that He is there standing right next to you. Jesus is the God who cheers you on not only when you are winning. He is the One who stays with you even when you are losing. That's what happened to Peter. When he caught nothing. Jesus was there. When his ability proved to be surprisingly insignicant, Jesus was there. He was there at the beginning. He was there in the end. And He is with you in the "in-between" moments of your life - win or lose! Jesus continues to choose... to stay! I know another man who lost. This time, not in a boat, but in a bout. He is also one who chose to follow the Lord. Yet after his decision to follow, he suffered some defeats, one and then another. And you guessed it the world has every reason why this was so. But the good news is - then and now - Jesus remains the same. Yesterday, today and forever, He remains. What Jesus did to Peter then, He does to Manny now. That is why I am condent that what happened to Manny is not the end (especially now that he has made the decision to follow Christ); but a beginning of another chapter of an exciting journey. After all, Peter went on to become one the greatest shers of men this world has ever known. I am sure that the BEST days are still to come for PacMan. No matter how hard we fall, there is no defeat in Christ because we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us!