The Unemployed Fishermen

I was watching the Sunday Morning program last week on CBS when I tuned in to a segment about the unemployment of middle-aged Americans and the difficulty of finding work again. At the end of the segment, one of the men being interviewed stated he would not give up--that it would be like going fishing and expecting to catch nothing. Since I had just been reading in my devotional book Our Daily Bread about Christ's disciples returning to their occupation of fishing after the crucifixion of Jesus, I started thinking about their three years of unemployment. After all, they gave up three years of their lives to follow the man Jesus. Now he was gone again, and life must return to normal. At this point of the gospel, the disciples realize they are catching absolutely no fish. A man on the shore instructs them to cast the net to the right side of the boat. They do so and find their nets so full of fish (one hundred and fifty-three) that they had trouble drawing them all in. Once ashore, they realize it is the resurrected Christ who had prepared a fire to cook the fish. The story reminds me again that often, as we experience hard times, we feel discouraged and that our lives will never be the same again. Yet, God in his grace restores us to Himself once again and fills our boats with abundance.