The Crisis
- Jan 10, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 20, 2023
I'm thinking this morning about an encounter Jesus had with his disciples, recorded in John 21. By this time he had already been crucified and rose from the dead. He had already shown himself to them twice. He had already told Thomas to put his finger in the nail holes, and to put his hand in his side. He was real. It was all true.
Yet after all this, the disciples were still stressed enough that they went back to the life they lived BC- before Christ. Many of them had been fishermen. So when Peter declared that HE was going fishing, others came along. I mean, what ELSE could they do? So they fished all night and caught absolutely nothing. These professional fishermen were skunked. (It happens.)
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize it was Jesus.
How often in our spiritual life is Jesus trying to do something, and we don't recognize it as him-- we don't recognize these circumstances or this "chance" encounter with someone as His doing? Pretty often would be my guess! So they shout to each other across the water:
"Catch anything?", shouts Jesus. "Nope!
"Throw your net on the other side of the boat!"
Seriously? But they do so, and suddenly the net is filled with large fish, almost to breaking. They tow it to shore (no WAY all those beautiful fish would fit in the boat) and they find Jesus had already made a fire and ALREADY had bread and fish cooking on the fire for their breakfast.
He knew they were hungry and provision had already been made. They didn't NEED to catch the 153 large fish, but Jesus was trying to make a point. He was proving, yet again, that he was able to meet their needs in impossible circumstances. (They had fished all night and caught nothing.) Now that he had their attention, he had stuff to tell them.
I think sometimes God CREATES crisis in our lives to see if we will turn to him. To see if He has our attention. Missiologist George Otis has a theory, and I think it's pretty good. He asks the question in his book "The Twilight Labyrinth: Why Does Spiritual Darkness Linger Where It Does?" (and I'm paraphrasing), "Why is the demonic activity so strong in high mountains and desert places? Is it because the devils enjoy a mountain view? No."
He goes on to describe in place after place around the world, where a people group came to a crisis point. They had an insurmountable obstacle - a large mountain range or frightening desert to cross. Or perhaps they were confronted by a superior and intractable enemy. At this point of crisis, they had a choice. They could either turn to Creator God, who still loves them and cares about them, or they could make a pact with the demons. Those that turned to the demonic spirits for aid in their crisis took on themselves generations of bondage. And these are places of strong demonic power still today.
So friends, maybe YOU are in a Crisis. Maybe it's your own doing, from bad choices. But maybe, just MAYBE, God is orchestrating this crisis to get your attention and to put your focus on Him? (God has certainly done that in my life, and no, I am NOT going to tell you about it! At least not at this precise moment...)
If this is you, stop fishing for a moment, sit down, and talk to God. See what he has to say.
And then see what he does.
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