The Net Is Not the Problem

"Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." The disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. They were not lazy. They were not faithless. They were working. The net went in, the net came up empty, and they did it again — the same hands, the same water, the same darkness. Then a voice from the shore gave one simple instruction: change sides. Not change careers. Not change boats. Not change companions. Just move the net a few feet in a different direction. What followed filled the boat nearly to sinking. The lesson is not about effort — they had plenty of that. It is about the difference between self-directed effort and obedience to a word from outside yourself. Exhaustion often comes not from working too hard but from working in a direction chosen without asking. The net was fine. The boat was fine. The fishermen were fine. Only the listening had been missing. — Narrow Highway devotional, 2026-06-04