John 21:4-6 “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.”

We might be tempted to jump right to the good part, the near record catch of fish. But let’s not forget the struggle that preceded it. I like fishing. I don’t like staying up all night working. I could tolerate it better when I was in my thirties, like these guys probably were, but even then it made me tired and cranky.

I really don’t like it when my hard work produces nothing. I spend hours trying to repair the car myself, but I can’t quite get it to work and have to take it to the mechanic anyway. I spray the weeds. I mow the weeds. I get down on my knees and pull the weeds. And then I look at my lawn and it seems like I have more than ever before. I take the gospel to the same door four, five, six, or seven times. Then the person finally attends church and tells me the next time I go back, “No thank you. Your church isn’t for me.”

All of this contributes to a sense that God isn’t here, he isn’t with me, working with his blessing. I don’t like the struggle. Sometimes it even makes me a little snippy with God, like he isn’t doing his job. Remember Martha’s words to Jesus when he came to comfort her after her brother Lazarus died? “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Remember the disciples’ complaint when Jesus was sleeping through the storm on this same sea, maybe in this same boat? “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” What does it say about our faith in him when we accuse him of falling down on the job?

Let me ask, without the struggle, how could he come to our rescue and make his presence known? We might be tempted to say that we would see him in how smoothly our life was running. Please. You know as well as I do that when things are going well, we often think of him and recognize him the least. Then we forget about him. If not for the struggle we might not seek him at all.

But then he brings blessing to our life’s struggle, and we see our living Lord. “Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” I don’t know how long Jesus will let your struggle go on, maybe a night, maybe a lifetime. I don’t know how he will finally bring it to an end. Maybe relief will look supernatural. Maybe he will send someone to your aid. Certainly they all end when he ends our journey here and calls us home to heaven.

This much we know: We can count on him to bless us and bring our struggles to an end. He participated in our struggles himself to save and win us. He sacrificed heaven’s comforts and endured hell’s torture to spare us from sin’s sentence. By rising from the dead he proved that life’s great struggle, the struggle to be free from death and judgment is over. He has no intention to lose us to some lesser struggle now. So he brings his blessing to life’s struggle, even blesses us with and through life’s struggles. This is another way Jesus shows us he lives.