It has probably been a little bit over a year that I have been pretty sure that I was supposed to do something like my 30-day comfort bomb. I’ve been in a funk that I couldn’t get out of and the idea first came to me quite a while ago. Since then, the idea had kept coming back to me over and over again and at that point, I knew that God was telling me that I needed to do this. But I didn’t want to. This is really going to suck. But I can already feel the benefit of obedience (and I haven’t even really started yet).

Pretty much as soon as I told Ann I was going to do this, started setting up the blog, and planning out my tasks, I could feel myself coming out of the funk that I’ve been in for most of the past few years. I could feel joy and peace again for the first time in a long time. And I know that it is because I am obeying God in something that doesn’t really make sense. And because God is pretty awesome, he gave me a little bit of confirmation last Sunday… when I taught a lesson to the 1st – 4th graders at our church that just happened to be on… wait for it… obedience.

The story that I was teaching was from John 21 – about Peter and the disciples on an unsuccessful fishing trip until the resurrected Jesus told them to throw the net out one more time. It is a story that I’d read or heard I don’t know how many times. But in the course of studying to teach it, it struck me how little it made sense for the disciples to obey Jesus when He told them to throw the net out one more time. So I told my class the story from Peter’s perspective (complete with the awesome beard on a stick). Here is mostly what I told them, but maybe adultified a little bit.

Peter’s Rough Night

So here we are, in a boat. It’s been a little while since Jesus died and rose again. He came to visit us twice. We were all in a room, upstairs, with the door locked. And somehow he was there – eating with us. Of course, we were all happy to see him, but I was also ashamed. I had promised to follow him. To die with him. And not 24 hours later there I was swearing that I didn’t even know him… just like he told me I would. It still haunts me and I cannot stop replaying the scene in my mind. Even after the fact, I cannot believe that I said those words. I cannot believe that I was so afraid that I would deny that I knew Jesus.

It has not been a good night so far. I don’t like to sit around. I have to be doing something. We returned to Galilee but we haven’t heard anything else from Jesus. I don’t much like waiting, so I decided to go fishing. John and six of the other disciples came too. I thought it would be a good night, a successful night. I was wrong.

We have been fishing all night long and haven’t caught a single fish. Hour after hour of dropping the nets and hauling them in empty. It is disheartening. Finally, the sun is coming up and it is time for our misery to end. We head back to the shore.

As we near the shore there is a man standing there, looking at us. He yells, asking us if we had caught any fish. It was like he was assuming that we hadn’t. I wasn’t really in the mood to answer him politely, but one of the others yelled no. Then, this guy has the audacity to tell us to throw our nets out on the right side of the boat if we want to find fish. Seriously! We have been fishing these waters all night. And now, when we are almost back to shore, he thinks that we will find fish. And he thinks it will matter which side of the boat we throw our net on? That’s not how fishing works.

I want to yell back at him that we know what we are doing and that his suggestion is ridiculous, but before I get a chance, I notice that the others are lowering the net over the right side of the boat. I roll my eyes and mutter about how stupid they are being under my breath. I’m not even paying attention to them until I hear their excitement. I run over to see what has happened and the net is so heavy and full of fish that it is about to rip. We cannot even pull it in it is so heavy. I am staring at it in disbelief as I hear John yell, “The guy on the shore is Jesus.”

Suddenly it all makes sense. I put my clothes back on and jump into the water and swim for it. I can’t wait any longer. I have to see Jesus.

This is Where I Took Off My Beard on a Stick

God is pretty cool. He asks us to do all kinds of things, and many of them don’t make any sense. Think of where Peter was in this story. He is a fisherman. He knows fishing. He knows that Jesus’ suggestion doesn’t make any sense. He may have been one of the disciples to lower the net, or he may have rolled his eyes while the others obeyed. The important thing here is that Peter got Jesus’ message – obey me, even when it doesn’t make sense.

I can’t imagine what is going through Peter’s mind when they realize that the net is so full. They had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught anything. Then this stranger yells to toss their net and all of the fish just happen to be right there? I’m sure he had never seen anything like it. But it wasn’t Peter that notices that it is Jesus on the shore. John notices – but Peter acts. He jumps in and swims. Of course, this leaves all of the other disciples on the boat to handle the responsibilities, but Jesus doesn’t seem upset about this. He just wants us to obey what He asks us to do, even when it doesn’t make any sense. And who knows, you might get to see a miracle like Peter and the disciples did.

Back To Now

And this is where I am. Obeying God. Doing 30 ridiculous tasks, trusting that He will use it to grow me. I have no idea where this is going or what will come of it… but I am going to obey.