My sister Jill gave me "Portals of Prayer", a quarterly daily devotional published by her church, to take with me on my trip to Europe.

Here is an entry from a month or so ago:

Have You Caught Any Fish?

"Jesus said to them, 'Children, do you have any fish?' They answered Him, 'No.'"

~ John 21:5

"We humans have a tendency to want to do everything ourselves. We don't need any help--we're okay; we can manage. But then, we find ourselves out fishing and catching no fish. We find out we aren't the perfect parents we had hoped to be. We find out that despite our hard work, we are still being laid off. We find out that our best isn't good enough.

"Jesus knows that His baptized children struggle with life in this world. We say the wrong things and do the wrong things, even though we don't want to. We find ourselves at the end of our rope, wondering where next to cast our nets.

"Jesus remains with us even in those moments. He continues to look after us and be with us. He is always with us in His Word, looking after His sheep, helping us to remain in Him. He has saved us from sin and prepares us to inherit eternal life. He was willing to be crucified so that we could be kept safe from the devil, sin, and death. He won't leave us when we are most vulnerable."

"Gracious God, at the end of a long night with no fish, point us to Your Word and the promise of Jesus to be with us always. Amen."

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