The Miracles of JesusSample

A Great Haul of Fish

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching and preaching. One particular day He was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As usual, there were crowds of people near who were listening to Him. Maybe it was the amount of people pressing in on Him, or maybe it was just a new way to keep the attention of His listeners, but Jesus decided to get into a nearby empty boat and continue speaking from there. 

He finished what He was saying, and then turned to Simon and told him to go farther out where it was deep. He told Simon, “...let down your nets to catch some fish” (Luke 5:4). Simon was a bit doubtful because his crew worked all night and didn’t catch anything. He knew that if he couldn’t catch fish during the night, then it was highly unlikely that he would be able to during the day. Nevertheless, Simon reluctantly agreed and let the nets down again. 

Within a short time, their nets were so full of the fish that the nets were starting to tear! They called for another boat to come to their aid. It wasn’t long before both boats were starting to sink due to the heavy load of fish.

This miracle brought Simon Peter to his knees. He begged for forgiveness of his sins and was simultaneously in awe at the amount of fish they brought in. Of course he was! He did this for a living and had never seen anything like it. Jesus spoke to Simon Peter and his two partners, James and John, and told them that their fishing days would be changing—they’d soon fish for people! And in that moment, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Today’s Takeaway: Doubting Doesn’t Define Us
Doubt is not something we came up with in our lifetime. Case in point—the disciples of Jesus. We know they doubted. Peter and Thomas certainly did. Yet, God didn’t hold that against them and continued to use them to change the world. 

It can be so challenging to trust in God when we can’t physically see Him. We see His work in other people’s lives and read about the miracles He’s done, but we struggle to muster up enough faith to believe and override our emotions. So, we doubt, and when we doubt, we feel guilty that we doubted and wonder if God is disappointed in us for our lack of faith. 

Here’s the great news about our doubts—they don’t define the rest of our lives. Meaning, we can doubt God many times, but then begin living our lives fully trusting in Him. Just because we have doubted in the past doesn’t mean we will always doubt in the future. We may struggle with our own failure, but rest assured, God does not. He loves us deeply and continues to call us to trust Him.