Things I Do When I Catch Nothing

John 21:3

Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

It is frustrating to go fishing, expecting to catch fish, and ending the day without catching a single fish. You almost feel like you have wasted a whole day doing nothing. I am not a great fisherman, but I have done some fishing. When I was a boy, I used to go deep-sea fishing with my dad, and there was nothing like coming back with a cooler full of fish.

Peter went fishing, and the Scripture says that he caught nothing. This had to be a frustrating night, especially knowing that he had disobeyed the Saviour. However, Jesus told him to cast his net on the right side of the boat. This had to seem a little ridiculous to just simply throw your net on the other side of the boat to catch fish. However, Peter obeyed, and it resulted in him catching a multitude of fish.

Soul winning has always been equated with fishing. When Jesus called the disciples, He told them to follow Him and that He would make them fishers of men. Just like going fishing, it is frustrating to go soul winning and not see anyone get saved. Let me share several things that I personally do when I seem to have a dry run in soul winning.

First, I don't stop going soul winning because I did not see someone get saved. I have learned over the years that if I go back out, God will often give me a soul to see saved. The worst thing you can do is to let a dry run stop you from winning souls. You must understand that God did not command us to save people, but he commanded us to give the Gospel to the lost. The saving of the soul is up to God, but the giving of the Gospel is up to me. Stop putting pressure on yourself about seeing people saved and realize your job is simply to give the Gospel to the lost.

Second, I always ask God if I did something wrong that would cause Him not to work through my life. I realize that sin has kept God from working in many lives, and if there is sin in my life, I want to make sure that God will show it to me so that I can remove the hindrance. I would hate to think that the sin in my life has kept somebody from getting saved. Always understand that God can work through a clean life much better than he can a sinful life. If there is a sin in your life, the best thing you can do is deal with it so that God can work through you in a more powerful way to see souls saved.

Third, I don't change the way that God tells me to go soul winning. Too many people have left God's example in the Scriptures of how to go soul winning when they should have followed His examples, whether or not they work. I don't go soul winning because I see people saved, but I got soul winning because God commands me too; it just happens that the bonus is that God uses me to lead people to Christ. When you go soul winning because you are supposed to, quitting soul winning will never be an option.

My friend, soul winning is one of the greatest things you can do in the Christian life. It will bring joy to your life to know that you obeyed God, it will give you joy to know that He used you to lead someone to Him, and it will thrill your soul to see a soul saved that was lost. The next time you have a dry run in soul winning, let these three things encourage you to continue going, and I believe that you will find is that God will use you to see someone saved.