Jesus Always Shows Up

Jesus always shows up at the campfire.

There are a lot of reasons to be frustrated or even discouraged with your progress on the road to wherever it is you are going.  Maybe you are a driven individual with a calendared & bullet pointed life plan and you expected to be much further along by now.  Perhaps you have lots of potential and lots of options that you like to keep open; so plans make you feel a bit claustrophobic.  Have you been pursuing a goal that’s been completed or dashed?  Are you depressed; or disappointed after a reversal?  Or are you just in between, walking the path and waiting to see the next reassuring trail marker that tells you that you are on track?

There was a group of seven friends in a similar frustrated state.  Actually, they may not have been sure in the moment if they truly were friends.  They had been drawn together by a common cause, around their hero; and then everything had changed.  One of their friends had betrayed them all and gotten their leader killed and their mission nullified.  They responded with fear, confusion, violence, and escape.  When hope was lost their leader starts randomly appearing to them and as it turns out is not dead anymore.   But what are they supposed to do?  The alpha dude, Peter, is the worst at waiting. He thinks waiting is the same as doing nothing. 

I picture these seven guys hanging around the campfire, waiting to find out what they are supposed to do with all these confusing circumstances.  It’s late and folks are moving toward bed.  Peter is too antsy, he sighs deeply and throws the stick he’s been poking the fire with and says “I am going out to fish” and heads for the door.  The other six look at each other, glance at their bedrolls and shrug, “We’ll go with you”.  All night they pull up nets as empty as their future.  With the sunrise they have another seemingly random visit from Jesus.  Prime fishing time is over and they are headed for shore and bed.  But no, he wants them to try throwing the net over the other side of the boat.  They probably grumbled something about being experts, about having fished this same stretch of water, and being at the end of their endurance and energy; but they did it anyway.  And they caught 153 keepers.

Why did they lower the nets again?  Probably because they remembered the time he had done this before.  When Jesus had first called them to share their lives in his mission he had done the same thing.  He had used their boat as a platform to teach a crowd gathered at the spot where the fishermen repaired their nets.  After preaching he repaid them by challenging them to trust him to drop their nets at the wrong time and in the wrong place.  The result was net-busting; and they dropped it all to follow him. 

Why did Jesus do this again? Was he using it to teach them a lesson or did he just want to bless his friends?  No matter what else we may glean from the story we can know three things; Jesus knew their need, he had a plan, and he believed in their success even after they had given up.  Before they had quit fishing in frustration he had already started a breakfast fire.  By the time they reached shore it had burned down to perfect coals for cooking fish.  They cooked, they ate, they were warm and full and back with their leader.  That’s when Jesus had a confrontational conversation with Peter about what he and his friends were supposed to do with their lives.

When I am frustrated, for whatever reason, on the road to wherever it is that I’m going I remember this story.  I hate waiting, doing nothing.  When it feels like I have nothing else to do I often follow Peter‘s example and get busy doing something active and familiar.  Your reaction may be different, maybe you get stuck doing nothing in front of the TV or hanging around with the very comfortable yet wrong people.  The activity doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it is a familiar sidetrack; leading nowhere.

 Peter was confused, and guilty, and he didn’t feel like waiting anymore.  He certainly didn’t want to lead and care for what was left of their task force; particularly when they didn’t have a plan.   So he went back to his old job.  When he had just enough time to see the fruitless nature of moving backward; Jesus showed up and got him back on track.  First he gave direction and grace, then the uncomfortable confrontation.

I don’t want to have that uncomfortable reorientation talk.  I do like direction and grace though.  So, when feeling discouraged or confused I am trying to resist the urge to go fishing, to go back to the familiar, to get busy.  I’m trying to listen and be still.  I’m more prone to ask the people around me to help me remember, “what was the last directive we were given? “  Thankfully, whether I lengthen the process by going fishing for the familiar or shorten it by being still and listening; Jesus will show up at the campfire