“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

It is interesting how easily frustrated we become.

When the power goes out and you instinctively walk into a room and flip the light switch, the irritation is immediate. When my children were younger, I was always amazed that they could not understand why the Xbox, WiFi, and so much of life suddenly stopped working.

They had not yet realized that everything they enjoy depends on a source of power beyond itself.

We are fortunate to live in a time with almost unlimited access to power, but that access has quietly shaped us. The more control we have at our fingertips, the easier it becomes to believe the illusion that life itself should always remain manageable and predictable.

The first step in discipleship, however, is the difficult realization that we are powerless.

As Jesus constantly reminded the self-assured — he came not for the healthy but the sick, not for the capable but the struggling, not for the morally impressive but the sinners, not for the picture-perfect but the broken.

Consider one of Jesus’ first disciples — Simon.

It took multiple encounters with Jesus before Simon was ready to leave everything behind and follow.

The first encounter happens in John 1 when Andrew introduces his brother to Jesus. Yet there is no dramatic response. No abandoned nets. No immediate transformation. He met Jesus, but he had not yet reached the place of surrender.

Life still felt manageable.

The next time we see Simon (now Peter) and Jesus together is Luke 4:38–40. Jesus enters Peter’s home and heals his mother-in-law, who was suffering from a severe fever and unable to get out of bed.

Moments like these often become catalysts for spiritual awakening. A diagnosis. A crisis. A moment when someone we love is suffering. Suddenly we are reminded how fragile we really are.

Our bodies are not machines. Our lives are not fully within our control.

Yet often, when the crisis passes, so does our awareness of our need. The fever breaks. The test results improve. Life returns to normal.

And slowly, our illusion of control returns with it.

That is why Jesus shows up again in Luke 5, and encounters Peter at his workplace. After an entire night of fishing, exhausted and empty-handed, Jesus shows up beside Peter’s boat.

Peter is the professional fisherman. He knows the water. He knows the conditions. He knows going back out fishing is a hopeless cause. Yet, for some reason, he listens.

And in the very place where Peter has reached the end of his own ability, Jesus reveals His power.

The nets overflow.

Suddenly, all these encounters come together. Peter finally sees what had been true all along. He falls before Jesus and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Lord.

The One with power.

Through the ordinary struggles of life — relational needs, physical weakness, and professional failure — Peter finally discovers the truth of the Gospel: We are weaker than we imagined, but God’s grace is stronger than we could ever hoped.

Jesus did not force Himself upon Peter. He simply kept showing up in the places where Peter’s own strength ran out. Waiting for Peter to admit his powerlessness.

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