In our women’s communities this spring, we’ve been taking a journey through the Gospel of John. One morning I thought that I would skip my time of reading John and then journaling. I needed to go to work and get started on a few tasks. However, when I felt a subtle nudge, I paused and decided instead to curl up in my reading chair and open my Bible.
The passage that day was about Jesus’s third appearance after the resurrection to His disciples, this time on the Sea of Galilee. It began when Peter tells the other disciples that he is going fishing. Earlier in John, after he had cut off a soldier’s ear at the time of Jesus’s arrest, Peter denies three times that he even knows Jesus. As I studied this passage, it seemed to me that Peter was always charging ahead—and not always in a good way. Then I realized I was acting just like Peter that morning.
Peter’s friends joined him to fish, but they don’t catch a thing. The next morning, Jesus appears on the beach as he stokes a charcoal fire. While the disciples are still out in the boat, Jesus asks how the fishing is going. He then tells them to put their nets out on the right side of the boat. To their amazement, they caught so many fish they were unable to haul in the net. Jesus knew what they didn’t know.
I had the opportunity a few years ago to be under the teaching of Dallas Willard. One day during class, he said, “Jesus is the smartest man to have ever lived.” That took a while to sink in. Jesus knows everything. He knows what I don’t know and what you don’t know, a reminder that Jesus is omniscient.
Why would we not consult and converse with Jesus as each day begins instead of charging ahead? Why would we not pause and seek His wisdom in our struggles, our projects, and in our relationships? If we do seek His wisdom, not only might we have a “better catch,” but we will find ourselves on our journey in relationship with Him. And that will make all the difference.