We Have Toiled All Night And Caught Nothing

He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. (Luk 5:4-6)

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. (Joh 21:3)

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (Jam 4:13-17)

And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, "Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!" And Moses said, "Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah. (Num 14:40-45)

I returned and saw under the sun that-- the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time: like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. (Ecc 9:11-12)

Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying,`Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.' Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. (Act 27:20-25)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones. (Pro 3:5-8)

---

This heart, a sail of Your wind
Finds direction and purpose
When You blow in!

We've labored all night
We've toiled sleeplessly,
But, Lord we've caught nothing!

We thought of many solutions,
We came up with many plans,
We've toiled unceasingly,
Lord, but we've caught nothing!

Our night of labor
Has come to an end,
We've come to our end;
Then, we saw You walk in,
Light of God, the Morning Star!
You said,
"Come to me, all you who labor,
And I will give you rest!"

This heart, a sail of Your wind
Finds direction and purpose
When You blow in!

It is not our talents,
It is not our repentance,
It is not our trying to mend things our way;
It is only in our living by Your word
That we find healing and health
For our bones,
And rest for our souls.

True Profitable Labor

True Profitable Labor.

“What profit has a man from all his labor under the sun?” (Eccl.1:3)

The Bible asks us to stop for a while and consider the purpose and profit of our pursuits in life.

God instituted that man should work for 6 days and rest on the seventh. Also, the Bible tells us that those who do not work for a living should not also eat.

“We gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2Thess 3:10)

Yet, it is important to understand that life and work is not just about filling our stomach and surviving in the world.

Psalm 90:10 tells us that our life is full of labor
Psalm 104:23 tells us that man goes to his labor till evening

Yet, the wise king Solomon had this to say about all human labor:

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. (Eccl.2:11)

Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. (Eccl.2:20)

He exclaimed that all labor is vanity of vanities, meaningless, and a chasing after the wind. What he meant to say was that if work was only about worldly things, “under the sun”, and didn’t have the eternal in perspective (Eccl.3:11), then meaninglessness would be a result, because man is not just a beast or an advanced animal; humans are spiritual beings.

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN LABOR
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (Eccl.3:11)

I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals." For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? (Eccl 3:18-21)

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Eccl 12:6-7)

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us… (Acts 17:26-27)

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. (Ps 128:1-2)

As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God. (Eccl 5:19)

The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin. (Prov 10:16)

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase. (Prov 13:11)

In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty. (Prov 14:23)

The desire of the lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse to labor. (Prov 21:25)

All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. (Eccl 6:7)

Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. (1Cor 6:13)

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:27)


LABORING FOR THE KINGDOM
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." (Matt 9:37-38)

"I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " (Acts 20:35)

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Eph 4:28)

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. (Rom 16:12)

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (1Cor 3:8)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1Cor 15:10)

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Col 1:29)
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1Cor 15:58)