Just Trying To Do My Job

TITLE: JUST TRYING TO DO MY JOB

SCRIPTURE: ST. LUKE 5:1-11

Have you ever found yourself in the position, where it seemed like no matter what you did, it just was NOT GOOD ENOUGH? Have you ever found yourself in the position that no matter how hard you worked, seemed like you just could not get the job done? Have you ever heard yourself DECLARING – JUST TRYING TO DO MY JOB! Ever heard yourself say - What's the use? I tried, I work very hard, what's the point? Have you ever felt DISGUSTED – DISCOURAGED – DEPRESSED - all in the same moment?

• Sure, we all have

• Your best efforts didn't make it

• Your boss didn't appreciate all the work that you did

• Not only didn't they appreciate it, they told you that you could find another job

There are times where it seems as though no matter how hard we work, we don’t make any headway. People look at you crazy, wonder what in the world are you doing, and all you can say is – Just Trying To Do My Job. That's where Peter was. And, in fact, in this text, Jesus is actually preaching the word of God and Peter is within earshot but, HE’S NOT LISTENING. The very answer to his frustration and discouragement is right there; but he can't hear. He was working, busy - WASHING HIS NETS. This is important because it means that he was CALLING IT A DAY. When a fisherman washed his nets they washed off the brine, they laid them out, they were done. They'd had it. The day was over.

I'll give you four reasons very quickly why Simon Peter's day was going so badly that he couldn't hear what Jesus was trying to tell him, and he couldn't see how the Lord would help him.

--NUMBER ONE - he was BONE TIRED. He had just labored too hard, and one of the great problems of today that everybody faces who seeks to be CONSTRUCTIVE and INDUSTRIOUS is Tiredness and Stress. He was just exhausted, he could not hear. You know, maybe the greatest word that God could tell you today is you need to rest, you've been working too hard, but that was one reason Peter couldn't hear.

• I was so tired when I left office Thursday evening around 7:40 p.m.

• Worked all day

• Langston University to teach course

• Back to office for Business Meeting

• All I could do when I arrived home was fall out in the Recliner

--SECONDLY - he LABORED ALL NIGHT. He'd worked 8-10 hours straight without anything to show for it. He was DISCOURAGED. You ever work so hard after while look around seems like nothing to show for your hard work but DISCOURAGEMENT. When discouragement sets in, your view becomes cloudy.

--THIRDLY - Jesus told Peter he needed to TRY AGAIN and that didn't make sense because to cast out into the deep water at the beginning of the day is just not the way it's done. So when we think about what God's trying to tell us and it doesn't make sense from our human perspective, we kind of shut it out.

• Michelle will tell you I’m the KING of Shutting Down

• I have to work hard at not shutting down

• When things don’t make sense – Annoyed – I Shut Down

--And LASTLY - PRIDE. I can imagine when Jesus told Peter, "We're going to try again, Peter," that he might have said something like, under his breath, of course, "Now just who's the fisherman here anyway? I think He was a carpenter, wasn't He?" One of those sort of things. We let our Pride get in the way of hearing from the Lord.

Have you ever worked hard at something and a family member, after you've been working hard at it for hours, looks over your shoulder and criticizes? Maybe you're in the car driving, you've lost your way and they're telling you, hopefully constructively, which way to turn, and there's an attitude that you have of "Thank you very much." You know, that's what I think happens in VS. 5.

• Jesus recommends Peter re-cast – set sail and catch some fish

• "Uh Lord, okay, if You say so," and I think that's where Peter was, completely

• "Thanks Lord for the suggestion but I really don't think this is going to happen"

I believe that many of us today are just like Peter. We spend so much time DEBATING WITH GOD that we miss out on our blessings. God is trying to take us out of the NORM and we fight the Lord because we are comfortable and satisfied where we are. I know we will not admit it but in essence that is exactly what we are saying to the Lord.