At church they have been doing a series called The Ascension where they have been looking at the time Jesus spent with his disciples after his resurrection and before He ascended into heaven. This week the topic was failure. One thing I like about this church, and especially the pastor and his wife is that they are so real. Both of them are very upfront and don't pretend to be anything they aren't. So when I say the message was about failure today, I say that in a sense that not only is failure actually an option, but an inevitable part of life. The message wasn't about how to avoid failure because that is just never going to happen for us. But one thing we can do is learn how to respond to our failure.
The passage today was John 21:1-19 which is a long passage so I will save you from having to read it in detail, but to summarize for you, this is the story of the Disciples fishing all night long and not catching a thing. When they had grown tired of fishing and were on their way in, Jesus called to them from the shore and told them to cast their nets on the other side. When they did, their nets were filled with an abundance of fish. At that moment, Peter knew who was on the shore and jumped out of the boat to meet Jesus. When they all reached the shore, Jesus invited them to eat with him. During this time, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. To which Peter replied "Yes, you know that I love you." The first two times, Jesus responded with "Feed my sheep." But the third time, he said two simple words, "Follow Me."
So what are we supposed to do when we fail? Because guess what, we are going to fail. A lot. The first choice we have when we fail, is will we chose to follow our plan or His plan? The disciples had to feel like major failures. This was what they did regularly. They go out and they fish all night. This was their livelihood. And yet they caught nothing. But then Jesus called out to them and told them to throw their nets on the other side. Something I am sure they had tried during their long night of catching nothing. But they listened and is says "they couldn't haul in the nets because there were so many fish in it." His plan is ALWAYS better than our plan. Even if we don't see it right away, His plan is always better.
This truth has been made so apparent to me these last few years. I am extremely familiar with failure. School for me was not an easy road. And I hadn't felt more like a failure when I dropped out of Northridge after failing a semester of classes and having to transfer to a community college. I thought I had my whole life figured out. I would go to school at Cal State Northridge, eventually move down to Northridge, work, become an athletic trainer and work with athletes for the rest of my life. Then two years into school, I still hadn't moved down to Northridge, I wasn't involved in my school and I hated what I was doing. Then my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer and I just felt like a failure. I failed my family by being gone for so long during the week for school. I failed myself because I wasn't going anywhere with my life. And then I stopped going to class because I felt like all I could do was fail.
So I did what I could. I listened to God's plan and pursued a career in teaching. Started going to Cal State Channel Islands but still lived at home with my parents. Even though I was following what I know now was definitely God's plan, it wasn't as clear to me back then. I still felt like a failure living at home with my parents. When I wasn't at school or working, I was taking care of my grandma. I really felt like I had failed at life. It wasn't until I finally finished school that God's plan became more clear to me. After graduating, I really felt the Lord telling me, It's time now. It's time to move and reach out and be the person I created you to be. I later got the job at Bradshaw and moved to Sacramento. Though my time at Bradshaw has had it's ups and downs, it has shaped me and molded me into a confident leader and teacher. If it were not for my time at Bradshaw, I would have never found the confidence to leave and attempt to grow elsewhere. This last week I interviewed at St. Francis Catholic High School and really felt a sense of confidence and peace going into the interview. I was confident that God's plan was better than my own and if this was where He wanted me, He would make it happen. And so I interviewed at 1:30pm and a few short hours later, I got a call offering me the job.
His plan is ALWAYS better than our own. Even when we can't see it.
The second choice we have is will we focus on what other people think of us or what God thinks? When Peter realized that it was Jesus on the shore, he jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. Can you just imagine that? Peter throwing himself out of the boat to go see his Lord? He didn't care what his friends on the boat would think. He only cared what Jesus thought. See, Peter was the same person that denied that he even knew Jesus a few days earlier. He was asked three times if he knew Jesus and he replied, "I don't even know that man." He was afraid of what people would say about him. Afraid of what would happen him if they found out that he was one of Jesus' followers. But now he doesn't care what people think and he throws himself out of a boat for Jesus.
The third choice we have is will we familiarize ourselves with His voice or our comfort? In verse 12, the disciples join Jesus for breakfast but none of them dared to ask Him, 'Who are you?' Because they knew it was their Lord. They knew from the miracle the witnessed and voice that was speaking to them that He was Jesus, yet they didn't recognize his face. Though they didn't recognize him, they chose to trust His voice.
Finally the last choice we have to make is will we fixate on our failure or choose to follow Jesus? Jesus doesn't care about our failures. He is more concerned with our future. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him three times. And each time he tells him to feed His sheep. But the last time he gives a simple two word direction: "Follow Me."We are going to fail. It's inevitable. But we have a choice. We can fixate on our failures and let it stop us from moving on with our lives, or we can trust that God's plan is better than our own and follow him. I don't know about you, but I chose His plan.
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