TRY, TRY AGAIN…. – by James Cox

“And Simon (Peter) answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing, NEVERTHELESS, at Thy word, I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5)

Ever wanted to give up? Quitting is our response to exhaustion; we give our ALL, we focus our energies towards “something” and we fail, nothing changes, we throw our hands up, defeated saying…”That’s it, I give up.”

Peter wanted to say that when Jesus told him to throw his nets out and start fishing again! Today, Jesus is asking us the same thing. “Lord,” we say, “I tried and tried. I failed and nothing changes!” “I’m tired Lord, and I don’t want to do this anymore, it’s just not worth it.” and we give up, defeated.

Peter quickly realized WHO he was talking to and in FAITH and HUMILITY, he decided to “just doit”; “nevertheless” was the evidence of his change of heart! He obeyed and was blessed for it; not just with fish, but with Faith and Trust. We need to humbly obey the voice of our Savior and act, EVEN IF we’ve “done this before” and failed over and over again. We need to trust the word of the LIVING WORD, despite the many disappointments of our past efforts.

Saints, don’t give up! Toil “thru the night”! Keep working on that marriage, don’t stop praying for that lost child, keep looking for that job, whatever “it” is, just keep at it! When you activate that “Nevertheless Faith” and try again, you’ll get a chance to see Jesus at work in your life. You can trust HIS word. Amen.

Today’s writer is a happily married husband and father of four GREAT kids, caretaker of two dogs and a cat, living in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Contact