Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught." Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.
John 21:7-11
The Lord came to the unproductive disciples, gave some rather odd counsel ("Cast the net on the right side of the boat…”), and they received a great catch! John realized it was the Lord on the shore who gave the command to fish from the other side of the boat. Peter jumped in the water wading to the shore, followed by the rest of the disciples going ashore in the boat.
Did you ever notice that the fish they ate for breakfast that marvelous morning, was not the fish the disciples caught and dragged to the beach? When they got there, the fish Jesus fed them were already on the fire. Jesus did tell them to bring the fish they caught, but He was prepared to feed them without what they caught.
And?
This is a beautiful reminder that the Lord doesn’t “need” us or our efforts. He has everything in hand. He graciously invites us to bring what we can do. But He doesn’t need us. And come to think of it, they only caught the fish they caught because of His intervention into their otherwise unproductive fishing venture.
Friends, praise God that He doesn’t need us or our efforts. If He did, what kind of God would He be? And praise God that though He doesn’t need us or our efforts, He graciously bids us to bring what we can do (which we only do by His grace!). In so doing, He includes us in the work that only He can do—whether prayer, evangelism, or anything else!