It’s Time to Confess: My Way Isn’t Working I

n Luke 5:4-5 I read, “When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” (NIV)

Think about how hard it must have been for Simon Peter to admit failure to Jesus. He was a professional fisherman, and he was good at it. It was how he made his living. But sometimes even the pros fish all night and catch nothing.

Does my life sometimes feel the same way? Sometimes my best isn’t good enough, and sometimes I face situations out of my control. I can’t control the economy. I can’t control the weather. I can’t control a lot of things that affect my life.

So what do I do when I keep trying hard in my work but just don’t have much to show for it?

First, I need to get Jesus in my boat. In other words, let him be the center of my job. Then, once I’ve asked Jesus to come into my boat, I need to admit my way isn’t working so I can let him take over. The Bible has a name for “admitting my way isn’t working.” It’s called confession, and it can be tough.

Why is it so hard for me to admit my way isn’t working? Here are a few reasons:

Pride. I don’t want anybody to think I can’t handle it. Instead, I want to look like I’m in charge and like I’ve got it all together. I think I can handle everything by myself, even if it means working 12 hours a day.

Stubbornness. I’m unwilling to change the way I do things. The greatest enemy of tomorrow’s success is yesterday’s success?

Fear. I can’t admit I’ve fished all night and caught nothing. I’m afraid people will think less of me. I’m afraid to let Jesus into my boat because he might steer it in a direction I don’t want to go.

It’s time to confess that my way isn’t working. Let go of my pride, stubbornness, and fear. Then see how Jesus can take my boat and fill my nets to overflowing.

In summary, Jesus told Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will do it. It must have been hard for Simon to admit failure to Jesus. He was a professional, and good at it. It was how he made his living. But sometimes even the pros fish all night and catch nothing. Often my life sometimes feels the same way? My best isn’t good enough, I face a lot of things that I can’t control. So what do I do when I keep trying hard in my work but just don’t have much to show for it? First, get Jesus in my boat, and let him be the center of my job. Admit my way isn’t working so I can let him take over. My way isn’t working because of pride, stubbornness and fear. With pride, I don’t want anybody to think I can’t handle it. Instead, I want to look like I’m in charge and like I’ve got it all together. I think I can handle everything by myself, even if it means working 12 hours a day. With stubbornness because I’m unwilling to change the way I do things. And with fear, because I can’t admit I’ve fished all night and caught nothing. I’m afraid people will think less of me. I’m afraid to let Jesus into my boat because he might steer it in a direction I don’t want to go. 

I confess Father that my way isn’t working and I want to let go of my pride, stubbornness, and fear. Especially my pride. I do tend to want to show I won’t fail and I even put in extra hours and do it all myself. Jesus I want you in my boat to guide me. Starting today I want your guidance to work with others to accomplish a task. I also want to let go of my stubbornness and allow a change to the way I do things. I admin Father my bitterness with my work. I want to let that go and substitute the grace you provide me to others. I ask for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, my future job role and leading the small group. I ask these things through you Son Jesus’ name, Amen.