Fear, Realization, Success

A friend told me about being in a boat hunting Canadian Geese in the dead of winter on a freezing lake. Bone cold the three of them in a 16-foot aluminum boat hold out for a few more minutes of light and the last chance at a goose. Sure enough their patience is rewarded. Overhead they hear a flight. Each of them fire their long goose guns straight up and two of the biggest birds come tumbling down out of the sky. For an instant they were exhilarated; then horror griped them. One of those birds was headed straight for the boat. 35 pounds of goose at 90 miles and hour. When it finally hit the boat it nearly sunk it and them with it. Sometimes you get what you want and it comes straight at you.

When Simon Peter saw just how many fish there were, the Bible says, he fell to his knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man." Peter got what he wanted, a good catch for a nights work, but something in the interim had occurred to him. What was it? What is it that suddenly dawned on him? It wasn't the number of fish; rather, it was who this man was who had just led him to the biggest catch of his life. In no way could Peter have been prepared for the catch he would soon participate in but for now Jesus says, "Don't be afraid, Peter, from now on you will be catching men." (Brent Porterfield, www.eSermons.com, January, 2001)