Tired of Working Hard and Going Nowhere?

Last night, I expressed my frustration to a friend over the lack of progress our business ventures are making. Even my ministry, which God called me to do 8 years ago and I am finally doing, seems to be going nowhere despite all the work put into it. I told her, “I’m not sure what we’re doing wrong, but things have got to change in a hurry. I’m tired of working hard and going nowhere.”

Today, I arrived at Mass not knowing what to expect. I woke up later than planned and didn’t have the chance to study the readings beforehand.

A Familiar Gospel

Today’s Gospel reading comes from Luke chapter 5 verses 1-11. This is the same Gospel where Jesus first called me to be a fisher of men, just as He once called Simon who would later be called Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

I’ll set the scene for you. Picture four men who, weary from fishing all night and catching nothing, are standing on the shores of the lake cleaning their nets and preparing to go home. Empty bellies. Empty wallets. Shoulders slumped in discouragement. A sense of defeat fills the air.

Jesus steps into this scene and, without asking, gets into Simon’s boat. Then He tells Simon, “Put out a short distance from shore.”

Tired and exhausted, Simon does as asked. How can he refuse the man who restored the life and health of his mother-in-law the day before this? It’s the least he can do to repay the gift that’s been given to him.

Jesus preaches to the crowds while Simon and his brother, Andrew, listen. He finishes speaking to the crowds, turns to Simon and says, “Put out into deep water and cast your nets.”

You can hear the frustration in Simon’s voice as he first responds, “Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing,”

Then, he catches himself and adjusts his course, giving a weary consent. “But at your command I will lower the nets.”

This time, with Jesus in the boat and obeying Christ’s commands about when and where to fish, an astonishing thing happens. The abundance he sought fruitlessly in the darkness but could not find fills his nets so full that they begin to tear and he must summon help from James and John, standing on the shore, in order to pull in the catch. Both boats become so filled with abundance that they are sinking into the water!

A Message Received

Father Ryan’s homily began with a reflection on the meaning of “Spinning your wheels,” – something I could definitely relate to. I felt like I’d been doing that in life, in my ministry, and in business.

He encouraged us that if we feel like this is where we are, if this is how life seems to be going for us, to stop and reflect on this statement by Christ in John Chapter 15 verse 5:

“I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever lives in me, and I in Him, bears much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.”

He then said what should be obvious but sometimes isn’t:

“If your work isn’t bearing fruit, if you’re tired of working hard and going nowhere, ask yourself, ‘Have you let Jesus into the boat of your life?’ and, if you have let Jesus into the boat, are you doing as He tells you to do?”

That’s a paraphrase and not an exact quote, as I didn’t record the homily, but it stuck with me nonetheless. Was I letting Jesus into the boat of my business ventures and was I letting Him tell me where to fish? Or was I still trying to achieve success on my own power?

Discussing Jesus with a Friend

On the way home from Mass, I returned the call of a PR friend from Columbus, Ohio by the name of Earth O. Jallow who owns Down to Earth PR. She’s not Catholic, but she and I are also business colleagues who partner together to promote and support several business ventures, including PTP Press and its flagship award-winning novel, The Price We Pay by debut author, Nikki T. Anthony.

We’ve built so many programs around that book designed to help heal the divisions in our world and our nation, yet despite every effort we’ve made, the book – and the programs to support it – have gone nowhere. Amazon ordered, and then returned within a month, 2500 copies of the hardbound edition which are currently sitting in the garage of the founder of PTP Press, Joylynn M. Ross, another non-Catholic.

The three of us have been doing everything we can to turn things around on our own power to no avail. She asked where I’d been and I told her I’d come from Mass and then shared the homily. We both agreed that we felt this one to our bones.

I told her I felt that maybe this is exactly what we needed to do. Put Jesus into the boat of PTP Press and start treating it less as a business and more as a ministry of healing for our divided world. She suggested we bring the four of us together – Nikki, me, Earth, and Joylynn, at the top of the week each week to pray over it and to ask Jesus to guide our little ship and to tell us where to cast our nets so that more people might be given the help they need to R.I.S.E. U.P., B.E. S.E.E.N., and Take the L.E.A.D. in challenging conversations.

Speaking a Word to Rouse the Weary

I know what it is to be weary and to have worked without bearing fruit. I encourage you that if you feel like you’ve been fishing all night and caught nothing, let Jesus into the boat. Let Him steer you in where to cast your nets.

Abundance is your birthright. Jesus, “came that you might have life, and that abundantly.” Perhaps it’s time to let Him steer us in the right direction so we can catch an abundant harvest of souls.