Fishing is slow. It’s slow and relaxing as recreation. Waiting on a few bites in the hour to tease some potential catch. It’s great for leisure. It seems like it would be hell if you depended on it for your living. I have no illusions that Simon, Andrew, James, and John worked very hard at their living to catch enough to provide for their families. The way Luke 5:1-11 goes, it seems obvious that it was hard enough that they would rent out their boat to an itinerant teacher to be able to bring something home.
Jesus takes them out for a catch. They obediently comply and the catch is so significant, that they have no doubts that the Jesus they are interacting with is divinely anointed. Their amazement is understandable. Simon’s fear is not.
Simon reverently asks Jesus to leave. There is no doubt some piety in this but Jesus’ response to him suggests there is fear. Simon is afraid. Of what? Success? Of God’s blessing on his work? Oh, easily. I don’t mean to insult Simon Peter but every time he catches a fish in the Gospel, it is a miracle. The thing about a rousing success like this catch is that tomorrow’s work will come—but now there’s an abundance go live up to.
I get it. It’s much easier to struggle and survive than to live disappointed in failed expectations of God’s goodness. Jesus’s response to that fear is not to rebuke it, to reconcile it, or redirect it. Instead, Jesus assures Simon Peter that there is something else to do.
In your fear of God’s blessing, pay attention to the open door for God’s mission.