Beyond the Familiar: Encountering the Resurrected Christ

After the resurrection of Jesus, His followers were confused and wondered  what to do next. Understandably, they returned to what had been familiar to them. For Peter, that familiar place was in a boat fishing, and that's where Jesus finds him and some of the other disciples in John 21. Out all night, Peter and his companions have caught nothing. At daybreak, a man stands on the bank and calls to them, asking whether they have caught any fish. When they say they haven't, Jesus tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. When they realize they have caught too many fish to haul in, they understand that Jesus is the man on the bank, and Peter immediately jumps into the water and swims to Jesus. 

When we wonder what to do, our tendency is to turn to a place of comfort, a position of familiarity. We're creatures of habit, but when we aren't sure where we're going, the comfortable, familiar path is not always the right path. Instead, we are called to do the next faithful thing, even if that thing is outside our comfort zone. Our dependency is not on ourselves but on Jesus as our Lord. 

Following Christ is not always easy. When your faith is challenged, it is in those moments that God asks us to do the next faithful thing and cast our faith on the right hand side.