Picture this.

You’ve got a bunch of guys out on a fishing boat, a couple of them are professional fishermen. They’ve been out all night and have caught nothing.

Early in the morning a guy is standing on the shore (so not even near the boat or where they were fishing). He yells out to the fisherman, “Have you caught anything yet?”.

The story tells us the fisherman replied with a one-word “No”.

(My friend Matt has some insight here and wonders if the tone of their “No” offered a hint of exhaustion? Irritation? Embarrassment? Perhaps…)

The guy on the shore then yells out and tell them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat.

You’d think at least the professional fishermen would’ve thought of that already.

Anyway, the moment they cast the net on the right side the story says “they were unable to haul the net in because it was so full of fish.”

Turns out, the guy on the shore was Jesus and He knew exactly where to cast the net.

In the context of my life right now, there’s an element of Jesus asking me to cast my net even though I can’t see any fish. While it can be liberating to not know where the next step is going to take you, it’s pretty awesome when you take that step of faith, ‘cast your net’ and see what happens.

Here’s a few other things I’m learning from this part of the story:

1. You are not always the expert. 

Consider your expertise. Now consider that someone else knows more about that than you do. It’s not always easy to allow someone else to lead or teach you, especially if it’s some bystander on the shore. I doubt it would’ve been easy for the fisherman in the boat to take Jesus’ advice, but I bet they were glad they did.

2. Always be open to surprise. 

The story talks about the catch like it happened instantly. You’d think this would mean the fish were near the water’s surface and possibly visible, but if that were true the fishermen would’ve seen them. So, was it the casting of the net that drew the fish in? Who knows. I don’t think the details mattered to the fisherman as they drew in their nets full of fish.

3. Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus = Rewarding step of faith. 

The guys in the boat had nothing to lose by casting their net on the right side. They’d been out all night and had caught nothing. Ever been there? I have. It’s a bit scary. Next time you’re at a dead end and you feel like you should do something random, just do it. You might just land a huge catch.

[Every Monday I catch up with the ATS crew and we ‘story’. I hope to have more to share with y’all as I discover more about the greatest story ever told]