A LESSON FROM PETER:

There’s More to Your Setback

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matthew 4:19 NLT)

Can you think of a time you hit a setback, and you settled? A time you reverted to what was comfortable instead of progressing towards what you knew you were called to do?

A fisherman by trade, Peter knew a lot about life in a boat. It was familiar to him. A comfortable place. This is where Jesus meets Peter and says “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matthew 4:19 NLT).

Later, Jesus called him from a boat, yet again. “'Come,'” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” (Matthew 14:29). For Peter, stepping out of the boat looked like stepping out in faith. Imagine the courage it must have taken to trust Jesus enough to let go of what he knew time and time again.

But even the most courageous can be shaken through the trials of life.

Peter, who dropped everything at a moment's notice to follow Jesus, who walked on water in faith toward Jesus, is the same person who denied Jesus in His greatest time of suffering (Luke 22:60-62).

Losing Jesus, the person Peter spent years serving left him devastated. And out of that devastation, he made a decision… He returned to the boat Jesus had already called him from.

Have you ever gone back to something you knew God had already called you from?

Peter hit a setback, and he settled. But this didn’t change Jesus' love for him, and it didn’t change the call on his life. When he tried to go back to what was comfortable, Jesus, once again, met him at the boat and called him back into his purpose.

He went on to preach the gospel to thousands, perform miracles, and play a major part in building the church. He might’ve settled momentarily, but when he stepped out in faith again, he saw that God wasn’t finished writing his story.

Maybe you’ve had moments like Peter. Maybe you feel like you're regressing instead of progressing. But your momentary setback isn’t permanent. Don’t let it keep you from what you’re still called to do.

Jesus resurrected to resurrect us. It’s time to trust God with your next step, because there’s more on the other side of your “yes.” Get out of the boat. Take a step towards Jesus. Trust that there’s more to your story this Easter.

“Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’” (John 21:19b)