John 21:11
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Two instances in Jesus’ ministry deal with nets and fishing with two very different results. The first incident happened in Luke 5:4 when Jesus commanded the disciples to Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. In this incident, the disciples did not believe Him and only let down the net, and the result was the net broke because of too many fish.
The second incident was after Jesus’ resurrection when He walked by the sea and saw the disciples fishing. He told the disciples to Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They obeyed the Saviour, and the result was a catch of a multitude of fishes, yet was not the net broken.
In these incidents, you see that one time Jesus tells them to let down the nets, but the other time He only tells them to cast the net to the other side. Both resulted in a multitude of fish being caught, but in one incident the net was broken, and in the other incident it was unbroken. Several lessons about obeying God’s command of faith can be learned from these two incidents.
First, God never commands you to do something that He does not provide the wherewithal to do it. If God commands you to do something by faith, you can be assured He has already provided you with enough to handle His blessings. It may seem you don't have enough or it will not happen, but God’s command of faith never breaks what He has given you.
Second, God never gives you more than you can handle. The reason the first net broke is because He told them to let down the nets. The second net did not break because that is what He told them to let down. God may bring you to the brink of breaking, but He knows what you can handle and will never give you beyond it. I have seen this in my ministry that the big days God gives us are always to the brink of beyond what we can control, but He never brings us beyond it because we are not yet capable of handling more.
Third, the lack of faith causes many not to handle what God gives them because of a lack of preparation. When you don't obey all that God tells you to do is when you find cracks that will damage His work. In the first incident, the disciples would not have had a net break had they let down the nets like the Saviour told them to do. You must be very sensitive to the tugging of the Holy Spirit and everything He tells you to do; otherwise, your nets will break. Any lack of faith causes problems in our churches that would not have happened had we obeyed all of faith’s command.
Fourth, sometimes there’s more, and sometimes there is less, but either time is a miracle. Never let the less cause you to miss the miracle. The miracle is the catch of fish, but it is also that the net does not break. I’m always amazed at how God takes our little and blesses it beyond our abilities. Never become calloused to the size of God’s miracle; whether small or great, the miracle is still a miracle. Enjoy it!
Fifth, God can always do more. No matter what you have to use, God can always fill it and do more. Your faith will never be too big for God to provide more than the size of your faith. Whatever faith you act upon, God will do more so that it will stir you to have greater faith the next time.
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