This is how Jesus’ story with his disciples started: Fatigued fishermen, empty nets, and boats with no catch were pulled ashore; indeed, frustrating moments don’t feel conducive for Godly revelations.
We expect to meet God over the pinnacle of the temple but not from the pulpit of a boat in Capernaum. He was not in the temple but on the shore after fruitless efforts. He reads our disappointment, but the Lord meets us where we are and calls us to him. The first four disciples had empty nets, a familiar weakness that Jesus directly addressed by filling their nets with His abundance.
Pretending that we have no wounds or difficult past experiences makes us jesters in the theater of life. If one has lived, one has wounds, weaknesses, and crises.
Jesus simply directed them to throw the empty nets, which filled up immediately. Peter felt inadequate and said to him: “Depart from me, for I am a sinner.” But Jesus did not leave; instead reacted beautifully on the lake’s shore.
Peter is trying to say: Your voice is the whisper that breaks the deep waters to yield its fruits; leave us! We will only hinder your mission!
Jesus, the great Fisherman, looks at him; he does not judge or absolve him. Instead, he moves to a sacred realm, away from the pattern of sin and into the paradigm of heavenly good; his whispering voice lets him know: “You will be the fisher of humanity.”
I heard you, I believe you!