Cast Your Net into the Deep Again

Peter a professional fisherman and his friends went to the sea for fishing. They worked hard all night long without a single catch. Worn out and run down, he came to the shore. He was embarrassingly disappointed. Jesus a professional carpenter asked despondent Peter to cast out his nets again. Peter answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”  Peter protested first but obeyed at last. He cast his nets again. He caught so much fish that he needed some help to haul his nets ashore (Lk 5:1-7).


Disappointments As Blessing in Disguise

Life can be very difficult and irksome. Setbacks and Disappointments can thwart our noble attempts to succeed in life. Nevertheless, disappointments can initiate soul searching, uncover our oversights and provide fresh insights; open our minds to new opportunities and horizons. In other words, disappointments can be a blessing in disguise.

The failure and disappointment of Peter provided for him an opportunity to experience the abundance of divine providence. Paulo Coelho says “when you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.”


The Courage to Dare

Peter enjoyed bountiful catch because he had the courage to dare again. He had a million reasons not to make another attempt. Against all odds, he tried again. And this time he succeeded. If we dare to try again, to our pleasant surprise, what is impossible will become possible; obstacles will be crushed; dreams will become reality.

Success belongs to those who will dare to believe, hope and try again. We must never stop trying again. Les Brown says “anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.”  As long as we have the courage to dare, try again, our success is absolutely guaranteed.

The Price of Giving Up

If we will not cast our nets again, if we give up in ourselves, we will lose everything.  When we stop trying and start giving excuses, we are only inviting failures. When we give up and give in to despair we begin to go down a spiral; talents atrophy; opportunities are wasted; we descend so fast and so low; we settle for less and eventually settle for nothing. We lose everything.

Despair and excuse can never guarantee success, if anything, they exacerbate the unsavoury situation. The greatest evil in the world is not failure or setbacks. The greatest evil in the world is lack of courage to dare, lack of desire to try again. The greatest evil in the world is loss of confidence, enthusiasm and energy to try again. There is nothing as tragic as giving up on oneself when success is inches away. If we retire, we expire.