NOTHING IS MOVING

HAVE YOU TRIED EVERYTHING YOU KNOW?

You've tried.

You've waited.

You've changed your approach.

You've asked people.

You've looked for another solution.

You've tried again.

But the situation is still there.

And after a while, you begin to think:

“Maybe there is no solution.”

“Maybe I should give up.”

“I don't know what else to do.”

So the question becomes:

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'VE REACHED THE END OF WHAT YOU KNOW?

WHAT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE WHOLE STORY YET?

Someone else was in a situation like this.

He had a very specific need.

He asked God for exactly what he needed.

Then he also did his part.

But when he began looking at the results...

nothing matched what he had asked for.

It looked as if the answer simply wasn't there.

But there was something he didn't know:

THE ANSWER HAD ARRIVED.

He just hadn't seen it yet.

HE WAS LOOKING FOR A VERY SPECIFIC PERSON

His company needed an employee.

But not for an ordinary position.

They were looking for a:

SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER.

Someone with management experience in both areas.

And, if possible, he wanted the candidate to be a woman.

According to his testimony, he brought this request to God.

Then he did something completely normal:

he posted the job opening.

THE APPLICATIONS CAME. BUT NOT THE ANSWER HE WAS LOOKING FOR.

After a few days, 16 candidates had applied.

The free application slots had filled up.

He began reviewing them one by one.

One.

Then another.

Then another.

But none of them had the combination he was looking for.

Most of them were men.

And there wasn't a candidate with management experience in both:

Sales

and

Marketing.

So from what he could see, the answer seemed to be:

“IT'S NOT HERE.”

HE DIDN'T IMMEDIATELY CHANGE WHAT HE HAD ASKED FOR

Some people told him:

“Make up your mind.

Either Sales or Marketing.”

Because what he was looking for seemed too specific.

He could have said:

“Fine.

It didn't work.”

He could have immediately changed the requirement.

He could have lowered what he was looking for.

But according to his testimony, he didn't.

He didn't become discouraged.

He kept waiting.

And a few days later...

THE ANSWER WAS IN SPAM

He opened his email.

And saw a message that had ended up in:

SPAM.

He opened it.

It was an application.

From a female candidate.

He opened the CV.

And stopped.

Her previous experience was exactly in management roles in:

MARKETING

and

SALES.

Exactly the combination he had asked for.

Think about it.

While he was looking through the 16 applications and thinking:

“It's not here.”

the application he was looking for...

WAS ALREADY THERE.

He just hadn't seen it yet.

“I DON'T SEE IT” IS NOT THE SAME AS “IT ISN'T THERE”

This is the part to remember.

He looked at what was in front of him.

And from what he could see, there was no candidate.

But he wasn't seeing everything.

There was another email.

In a place he wasn't looking.

So when a situation isn't moving, be careful with the sentence:

“THERE IS NO SOLUTION.”

Maybe all you can truly say is:

“I DON'T SEE THE SOLUTION YET.”

Those are two different things.

But do we see something similar in the Bible?

SOME FISHERMEN HAD TRIED ALL NIGHT

Peter was a fisherman.

That was his work.

He knew the lake.

He knew the nets.

He knew how to fish.

One night, he went out with his men.

They worked.

They cast the nets.

They tried again.

And again.

The whole night passed.

But in the end:

THEY HAD CAUGHT NOTHING.

— Luke 5

It wasn't that they hadn't tried.

They had tried all night.

JESUS TOLD HIM TO CAST THE NETS AGAIN

Then JESUS came.

And He told Peter to go out into the water again and lower the nets.

Peter could have said:

“You don't understand.

We've already tried.”

In fact, he said to JESUS:

“Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything...”

That sentence may sound very close to what you are saying:

“I'VE TRIED.”

“IT DIDN'T WORK.”

But Peter didn't stop there.

He said:

“But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

THE NETS FILLED

Peter lowered the nets.

Into the same water where he had worked all night.

With the same boat.

With the same nets.

But this time...

they caught so many fish that the nets began to break.

They needed help from the other boat.

A moment earlier:

NOTHING.

Now:

FULL NETS.

What changed?

Not the fact that Peter suddenly worked harder.

Not his profession.

Not because he had suddenly learned a new technique.

He received direction he didn't have before.

MAYBE YOU DON'T NEED TO TRY HARDER

This story does not say:

“If it didn't work, do the same thing another hundred times.”

Peter had already done that all night.

He had reached the end of what he knew to do.

Then JESUS gave him direction.

So when nothing is moving, maybe the question should not always be:

“What else can I try?”

Maybe the question should be:

“JESUS, WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?”

STOP FOR A MOMENT BEFORE YOU TRY AGAIN

Maybe you've done a lot.

Maybe you're tired of looking for another way.

Maybe you're about to try something else simply because you don't know what else to do.

Before you start running again...

stop.

You can say to the FATHER:

“FATHER, I've done what I know to do.

I'm not seeing results.

I don't want to keep trying only according to my own understanding.

Give me wisdom.

Show me if there is a step I'm not seeing.

Show me what I should do.”

Then:

pray.

Read the Word.

Don't rush.

Look carefully.

Ask for wisdom.

And don't assume that every idea that comes to you is automatically an answer from God.

If it still isn't clear...

you can say:

“I DON'T KNOW YET.”

Because you may have reached the end of:

WHAT YOU KNOW

without necessarily reaching the end of:

THE WAY.

PETER DIDN'T ONLY NEED A NEW IDEA

This is the most important part.

Peter did not simply receive a new fishing technique.

He was beginning to discover:

WHO JESUS WAS.

And after what happened, his story with JESUS changed.

So the point is not to use JESUS only when:

work gets stuck,

money is tight,

a plan isn't working,

or a door won't open.

The bigger question is:

“DO I KNOW THE JESUS I'M ASKING TO GUIDE ME?”

Because direction doesn't begin only with finding a solution.

It begins with a relationship with the One you're asking to guide you.

BEGIN WITH JESUS

JESUS said:

“I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the FATHER except through me.”

So if you want to know God...

to begin a relationship with the FATHER...

and not only turn to Him when everything gets stuck...

the Way is JESUS.

It is not the words of a formula that save you.

What matters is that you are coming to JESUS with faith and sincerity.

If this is what you truly want, you can tell the FATHER.

A SIMPLE PRAYER

You can say:

FATHER,

I come to You just as I am.

I believe in JESUS.

I believe that He is the Way to You and my Savior.

Forgive me for my sins.

Today I receive JESUS as the Lord and Savior of my life.

Draw me close to You.

Teach me to know You and to walk with You.

I want to begin a new life with You.

In the name of JESUS. Amen.

WHAT ISN'T MOVING IN YOUR LIFE?

Think about the situation you brought into this journey.

Work?

Money?

A project?

A decision?

A door that won't open?

Something you've tried many times?

Don't immediately tell yourself:

“THERE IS NOTHING.”

Because the witness reviewed the applications and didn't see what he was looking for.

But the application was already there.

In Spam.

Peter looked at empty nets and said:

“We worked hard all night and caught nothing.”

But then JESUS showed him what to do.

And Peter acted.

So now don't only ask:

“What else can I try?”

Also ask:

“FATHER, WHAT AM I NOT SEEING?”

“JESUS, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO NOW?”

Then...

don't invent an answer.

Don't pretend you've received direction when it still isn't clear.

Don't call every idea an “answer.”

Don't call every desire “direction.”

Wait.

Pray.

Ask.

Read the Word.

Look carefully.

And when the next step becomes clear:

DO IT.

Because:

“I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING I KNOW”

does not necessarily mean:

“THERE IS NO WAY LEFT.”

It may only mean:

“NOW I NEED DIRECTION I DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE.”

And maybe one day, when you look back at the situation that today seems completely stuck...

you will realize the story had not ended where you thought it had.