When You Tell God You Quit

When you tell God you quit. After the death of Jesus, Peter quit. He abandoned three years of ministry with the Son of God and returned to fishing. But Jesus wasn’t finished with him yet. Here’s what we learn from the encounter.

When you tell God you quit. He meets you where you are.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, everything went crazy. Jesus, the one that held everything together was gone and no one knew what to do. Fear gripped them. Would the leaders who crucified Jesus come after them too? So, all the disciples of Jesus scattered.

In John 21:3-19, Peter quits and returns to the familiar. Fishing. Because…well, isn’t that what we do when we lose our bearings? Our safety feels threatened? Go back to what makes us feel safe and secure like comfort food?

Fishing was an honest trade and a sensible fallback plan. Except when you follow Jesus, what we consider sensible is not always how he leads. But rather, pushing into the uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Because he wants us to trust him and exercise faith.

And even when we mess it up, he comes after us to restore our relationship with him.

That’s what he did with Peter.

When you tell God you quit. He challenges your thinking

There’s something familiar about the scene in John 21:3-19. Because it’s a repeat of Jesus’ first encounter with Peter recorded in Luke 5:1-11. Peter was cleaning his fishing nets nearby as Jesus preached to a crowd on the beach. And Jesus asked Peter if he could use his boat as a preaching platform. They pushed the boat into the water and Jesus sat and taught the beach crowd. And when Jesus finished, he told Peter to put out to deep water and let down his nets.

A bit audacious for an itinerant preacher to tell an experienced fisherman how to fish. I can imagine Peter smiling at Jesus a bit condescendingly. “Dude, you’re a preacher and I’m an experienced fisherman. I won’t tell you how to preach. Don’t tell me how to fish.”

But he didn’t. Why not? Perhaps there was something about Jesus that compelled Peter to do what he said. A sense that Jesus was beyond ordinary. And his thoughts were higher than Peter’s thoughts. So Peter complied and the huge catch of fish nearly broke the nets.

And you wonder. How could an itinerant preacher know better than a seasoned fisherman where the fish were and how to find them?

He didn’t have to. Jesus simply commanded the fish where to swim. It made Peter a believer and he immediately left everything and followed Jesus.

When you tell God you quit. He revisits your calling and demands your commitment.

There were times as a pastor in church ministry when I wanted to quit. Because I was discouraged by failure. Treated unfairly. And questioned my calling. Ever been there?

But I remember the wise counsel of a mentoring pastor: Whenever you doubt your call and think of quitting, go back to the moment you first sensed God’s call. And that’s exactly what Jesus does with Peter. He revisits the scene of Peter’s original call to ministry. And once again, the nets almost tore apart with a huge catch of fish.

But Jesus goes further by demanding Peter’s commitment. “Peter, do you love me? Then feed my sheep.” And after repeating the question and demand for commitment two more times, the point was clear.

Jesus doesn’t suggest we try him out like sampling ice cream flavors before a purchase. He doesn’t offer unlimited “you are blessed” passes for a pain free Christian experience. In fact, he tells Peter that his commitment will include a cost. And the same may be true for us.

What Jesus wants to know is this: Are you all in?

Chip Tudor is an author, blogger and professional writer. He publishes books, humorous Christian drama, and thought provoking blogs from a Christian worldview. This blog is originally published here.