Wait For It...

John 21:1–14

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• “I am going fishing.”
• “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
• “Cast the net over the right side of the boat.”
• “Come, have breakfast.”

Applying the Word to My Life:
Think of the last time there was an awkward pause in conversation. Maybe you were talking with a friend and then everything just stopped. In that moment, we naturally feel a pressure to fill the silence. To say something—anything—to get the conversation moving again. During depositions, this is a favorite technique for lawyers because under that pressure people say things that they never intended to say.

Peter is a perfect example of this kind of nervous energy. He has seen Christ after the Resurrection. He heard Christ say, “Peace be with you,” but Peter still hasn’t found that peace. He knows his life cannot just go back to normal, but he does not yet know how to move forward. His Lord is risen, and Peter is supposed to sit still and wait. That is hard for a man like Peter.

The problem is not that Peter does not love Christ. The problem is that he does not yet know what to do with that love. So he falls back on what is familiar. He does something. Anything. He goes fishing. They fish all night and catch nothing. That matters. Peter’s energy is real. The work is real. The motion is real. But none of it is bearing fruit yet. He is doing what comes naturally, not what has been given to him yet.

A lot of us know that feeling. We stay busy. We keep moving. We fill the silence with activity because it feels better than sitting in uncertainty. But movement and purpose are not the same thing.

And that is exactly where Jesus meets him. He does not stand on the shore frustrated that Peter moved too soon. He does not shame him for going back to what was familiar. He calls out, fills the nets, and has breakfast waiting for them. That gentleness matters. Jesus does not walk away from restless disciples. He keeps drawing near to them, even when they are still learning how to wait on Him.

Peter is primed for action. I can almost hear the thought in Peter’s head when he realizes Jesus is on the shore. “Ah, finally, now is the time! Let’s go!” He is off the boat and into the water immediately. But he had to be surprised by what came next. The order of the day was not to run off and convert the nations. There would be a time for that, but not now. It was to have breakfast and wait some more.

Peter has not yet learned that waiting, discerning, and praying are real action, even if they do not look like much from the outside. Jesus knows Peter is not ready just yet. There will be a time for preaching and bold public witness, but not yet. Peter still has to be formed. He still has to learn how to stay close before he runs ahead. After Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter will stand and preach in a way that reaches people from every nation. But that moment is not here yet.

A lot of us struggle with that same lesson. We think visible action is the only kind that counts. If we are not moving, producing, fixing, or achieving something, it feels like nothing is happening. But spiritually, that is not always true. Sometimes the most important thing happening in our lives is hidden. Christ is settling us, clarifying us, and teaching us how to follow Him with purpose instead of just energy.

This is why we need to make regular time to be still before God, so that we can listen, be formed, and learn what He is asking of us. Some of those times will feel like that room after the Resurrection, when it seems like nothing is happening and patience is the work. Other times will feel more like Pentecost, when God’s movement is unmistakable. The thing to remember is that no moment with God is wasted. The quiet moments and the powerful ones both matter, and so does everything in between.

A lot of us spend our lives mistaking urgency for faithfulness. We assume that if something is not visible, measurable, or productive right away, then it must not matter. But this reading pushes against that. Peter’s love for Christ is real, but love still has to be formed. It still has to learn how to wait, how to listen, and how to move when the time is right instead of just when the energy is high.

That is a hard lesson because waiting can feel like waste. Silence can feel like drift. Stillness can feel like failure. But Jesus is showing Peter—and us—that not every pause needs to be filled.

Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is stay near Him long enough to be made ready.

My Response for Today:
Today, I will take ten quiet minutes to sit with Jesus instead of filling the silence.