Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. John 21:4-11
“We need to know that God does not take orders from us, but we also need to know that the Bible encourages us to make all of our requests known to God (Philippians 4:6). We are little children stating our wishes and desires. Indeed, at times, our prayers may be nothing more than expressions of “what we wish could be true,” though we know at some level that it almost certainly cannot be.
Such knowledge is not a lack of faith, and God (like any loving parent) wants to hear us speak of such things. We can pray seriously for that which we honestly believe God will grant, and we can pray wistfully for that which we merely fancy, and we can pray naïvely with little awareness of which of these is which. Sometimes God gives us what we want, sometimes God gives us nothing, and sometimes God surprises us with something much better.”
Mark Allan Powell in Loving Jesus (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2004) 168.
Yesterday morning en route to the San Juan with my son, Sammy, and our friends, Clay and Charlie Jones, each of us prayed for a big day as it was our “tenth anniversary” New Year’s fly fishing trip. I prayed for what I thought was the unthinkable, a 100-trout day, for the four of us. Some years we have been lucky to get even just a few fish as a group.
Sometimes God surprises us!
Sammy landed the 100th trout, a huge rainbow just after lunch. Remembering this text from John’s Gospel, and knowing that we had about four hours before the snow would start flying, the temperature would drop, and the sun would be gone, we looked at each other and said, “Could it be possible for us to have a 153-trout day?”
Sometimes God surprises us!
We did it. We caught (and released) 153 trout of various sizes in one day. For those who have to see to believe, enjoy the photo of one of them (above)! Powell is spot on: “Sometimes God gives us what we want, sometimes God gives us nothing, and sometimes God surprises us with something much better.” It is the Lord! He was generous to us, and we will never forget it!
As we embark on 2016, let’s remember that our generous God can do more than we could ever ask or imagine.