Have you recently felt like giving up? Has Christ given you promises, or placed a calling on your life, confirmed it, and then taken you into wilderness places to prepare you, yet things do not look anything at all like you anticipated? Do doubts and uncertainty swirl around in your mind, causing you to wonder if Christ really meant what you had heard all that long time ago? Do you see your own failings as being so stark and glaring that you are convinced that you could not possibly be the man or woman for the job you had once dreamed of? Has your hope of seeing the promises of God fulfilled faded to be replaced by an inner desperation, and even despair, as you see others prospering while all things in your life seem unfruitful, barren and ready to die?

I suspect that there are many in this situation at this time, for Yahshua has been preparing a host of people to be used powerfully by Him in this late hour. Yet, as the scriptures are examined, it is apparent that those who have been used mightily of God in all ages were often given a vision only to see that vision tarry, and to see their lives take some awful turns that seemed to run in the opposite direction of that which was promised. Abraham was promised a son, yet the vision tarried past the point of natural fulfillment. Joseph was given visions of ruling and reigning and then was sold into slavery, and then falsely accused and put in prison in a foreign land where it seemed he had been forgotten and abandoned. David had the anointing oil poured over his head by the great prophet Samuel in the presence of the town elders, signifying that he would be the king of Israel, but then he spent years fleeing for his life, living in caves and in foreign lands, hunted like an animal.

We know that each of these men did have their dreams and promises and prophecies fulfilled, and they were fulfilled in a most supernatural and extraordinary manner. If you looked at any of these men just prior to the accomplishment of that which was promised to them, you would not see any natural indication that the promises were about to be realized. All would look hopeless and despairing.

It was not just Old Testament saints that experienced this trying of their faith. Consider the disciples of Yahshua. They had walked for a time watching the miraculous occur. They had seen the dead raised, the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear. They had seen demons cast out with a word. They had observed the Messiah walking on water, and with a single command causing a stormy sea to become calm. Some had even seen their Lord transfigured and standing with Moses and Elijah with great glory resting upon Him.

These men had received many promises. Yahshua said that He would make these fishermen into fishers of men. These men knew they were called to something great, even to the point that James and John asked the Lord if they could sit at His right hand and left hand in the Kingdom of God. This same Savior spoke to Peter and said:

What great promises were given to these men. No longer would they labor for that which perishes. Now they were given a heavenly commission. They were the hand picked ministers of God and they would usher in the church age.

But before these things were fulfilled, matters took a strange turn. Their Lord, whom they thought would establish the kingdom and sit on the throne of David, was put to death by the Jews and Romans. The sheep were scattered. The disciples did not understand this turn of events. It looked like the One they acknowledged to be the Son of God was overcome by evil men. They did not perceive that no one took His life from Him, but that He freely laid it down.

Peter in his confusion and doubts denied that he even knew Yahshua. Even after Christ was resurrected and had appeared to the disciples, they did not understand what was going on and how the things spoken to them could be fulfilled. In his confusion, Peter must have felt that he had been disqualified, passed over, abandoned as a hopeless case, rejected, cast away, etc.. He could see no way for the things he once hoped for to be accomplished. In his despair he decided to return to former things that he had once known.

So much is contained in the words, “I go a fishing.” It was an expression of a death to his calling to be a fisher of men. It was a declaration of his own feelings of unworthiness to be a kingdom minister, and a statement of his resignation to the fact that he was insufficient in himself to accomplish a single thing for God. This man that had once boasted that even if all the other disciples turned away from Christ, that he never would; this man that then denied knowing his Savior when asked on three separate occasions, even with oaths and swearing, was brought to a point of emptiness. He had no more confidence in himself, and with the death of his self-confidence, he also died to his dreams of being a vessel of honor to be used to build the kingdom of God and to glorify his Master.

Are you in a similar place now? Have you been given a vision of a call on your life only to come to realize that you are completely impotent to accomplish one enduring thing for the kingdom of God? Have you spoken truth to others and been able to convince no one? Does it seem that no one has received your report, and the opportunities to even declare those things that were burning in your spirit are drying up? Has your hope faded, and, with it’s decline, have you considered going back to that which was once your earthly calling? Have you considered going fishing?

Here we have reported that Peter was accompanied by Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John (the sons of Zebedee), and two other disciples. Seven of the twelve disciples were present, and of the remaining five, Judas was dead having hanged himself. I can imagine the despair of this group as they toiled all night at fishing with not a single fish in their nets. A sense of futility and overwhelming frustration must have gripped them. In their minds they must have been thinking of the prior days when they walked with Christ and He had laid such a great commission upon them. Their souls must have agonized over what had transpired to bring them to their current state of barrenness where all seemed vain and meaningless.

The saying is often proved true that things are the darkest before the dawn. The scriptures state this same sentiment in the following manner, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalms 30:5). How close these men were to seeing fulfilled all that had been promised to them. Only a short time later they would find themselves gathered in an upper room praying and waiting on God, and the Spirit would come upon them as a mighty, rushing wind, and they would be transformed into other men. These men who had been hiding from the Jewish leaders and the Romans would go forth with great boldness declaring the message of salvation and multitudes would be swept into the kingdom of God.

The Spirit is calling many to a place of watching and waiting in this hour. Something great is about to occur in the heavenlies. A transition is about to take place, and a baptism of fire is soon to be manifested. Those who have submitted to the purging and refining of God in the wilderness are to be endued with a new power from on high. Promises are to be realized and mantles are to be taken up that have bee reserved for many.

Yet at this same hour the enemy is seeking to dislodge those who have endured so much, and to turn them back from the hope and faith they have stood in for so long. He would seek to cause many to abandon their hope just before it is to be realized. He is pouring forth many lies, and the servants of Yahshua are being buffeted mightily as he seeks to move them from the place of faith in which they have stood. But Paul, who knew so much of the working of the enemy, and who said he was not ignorant of his devices, gives us this exhortation:

12 For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

13 Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

The enemy wants to move us from the ground of faith. He wants us to abandon the position upon which we have been called to stand. But Christ calls us to not be moved, and having done all to remain standing in hope and faith, with great courage and boldness.

The enemy is growing desperate for he has loosed many assaults against Yahshua’s faithful sons and daughters, yet a great number of them are still standing. They have not turned and run. Their faces are set as flint until they see the promises fulfilled. Yet the enemy senses that some are wavering, and he hopes to turn these back after they have come so far. The Spirit expressly says, “Hold on. Stand fast. Do not be moved. Encourage yourself in Christ. Remember what He has done for you so far. You have not been abandoned. Great things are coming. Stand, and, having done all, remain standing. Have this mind in you that says, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’, and in you the enemy will have no hold and he will be thoroughly defeated.”

You need not go back to fishing. You need not abandon the dreams and promises that have been sown by the Spirit of God into your spirit. Put off the heaviness and the despair and put on the garments of praise. In this way Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah and Jerusalem went forth and Yahweh routed the enemy before them. Though it is with herculean effort that you bring yourself to praise, begin to let the praises of God come forth from your lips. How the enemy will be confounded, and confusion and doubt will then become his portion.

I speak these things out of my own experience. I have been tempted to turn back before the promises are realized. I have heard the Spirit speak the words to me while I was in my doubts, “I go a fishing.” I knew what He was saying, and the message is clear, “those who go back to fishing will find their nets empty.” There is no fulfillment, no satisfaction, in turning back. Turning back will leave the soul parched and grieving for all that has been abandoned.