I was eight years old when I went to the emergency room for the first time. I had spotted a six-inch, rubber lizard on the rocks near the boat ramp. I aimed to add the piece to my collection of fishing lures. While my dad and uncle were backing the boat into the water so that we could go fishing, I meandered on over to retrieve the treasure from the rocks.
I’m not sure how it happened, but when I went to snatch the lure, the hook, which I did not see, pierced my skin and the barb was stuck deep under my flesh.
It was another episode of me hooking anything but a fish.
After my Uncle Joe unsuccessfully attempted to remove the hook from my bloody finger, we made the trip to the local emergency room where the doctors successfully removed the hook, cleaned my wound, and gave me an orange sucker. It ended up being a good day – even though I never caught a fish.
I love to fish but I’m not a very good fisherman. I can conservatively say that eighty-percent of the time I go fishing I go home without having landed a catch. And although I’m always slightly disappointed in the result, I’m never defeated.
I know I will get out there to fish again.
I assume that Peter and Andrew were better fishermen than me. Although, we don’t always get that impression in the Scripture! However, with a little guidance from Jesus, they usually had a good haul. (Luke 5:1-7)
One day, on the shore of a lake, Jesus took these ordinary fishermen and gave them an extraordinary mission.
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20
With a word, these career fishermen were made career evangelists and these vocations have many parallels with one to note here – sometimes you catch fish and sometimes you don’t.
In his early ministry Peter had days when the “fish were biting”. Full of the Holy Spirit, Peter stands up before a crowd on Pentecost, preaches the Gospel, and three thousand people come to faith in Christ.
That’s a good day on the water! Peter, as well as other apostles, would have many “good days on the water”. But not every day was so plentiful.
In Acts 4 Peter and John didn’t convince a single member of the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious leaders) to come to faith in Jesus. In Acts 17 Paul preaches to a large group of people and only a handful put their faith in Jesus. Let’s not forget that in Acts 14 Paul and Barnabas were once so unsuccessful that they accidentally convinced a crowd of people that they were Zeus and Hermes in human form. Then after correcting the crowd and trying to proclaim the Gospel Paul was stoned and dragged outside of their city. That’s worse than getting a hook stuck in your finger!
The point is this: Sometimes you catch fish and sometimes you don’t.
This is true if we’re headed to Table Rock Lake for largemouth or headed across the street to talk with our neighbor. Sometimes you have success and other times you seem to hook anything except a fish.
I’m sure you’ve had the hard days… when the co-worker doesn’t respond in faith to the Gospel, or the youth group student you’ve been discipling won’t seem to commit to Jesus, or when your own child is wavering in their faith.
I’ve been there. These moments are certainly disappointing. They’re more disappointing that not catching a fish because eternity is at stake. They’re disappointing, but don’t let them be defeating. Get out there and go fishing again.
And may I offer this word of encouragement as you prepare your “evangelistic tacklebox”, talk to Jesus about your friend more than you talk to your friend about Jesus. Of course, I’m not suggesting you stop talking to your friend about Jesus. I’m simply reminding you of what James says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). And after all, it’s God “who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
So, when the fish aren’t biting, talk to Jesus, and maybe He’ll show you where to throw your net.
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