“To whom will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him? To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? Saith the Holy One. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.”(Isaiah 40:18, 25,28)

The year only ended, not life; the end of a thing is the beginning of another. May your new year be blessed. The journey to fulfilment is actually not an easy route. There is actually no smooth ride to any life destination. There are ups and downs, hold ups and road blocks; sometimes we enjoy speed in acceleration, other times we are compelled to endure ‘go slow’ the ‘go slow’ maybe slow and steady or very frustrating. In all these God’s ultimate plan is that we should reach our goals and ultimate destination.

In life no matter how easy or tough the path may seem there are those that will drop by the way while others will get to the finishing line irrespective of the hurdles. Judas one among the twelve disciples dropped on the way because he choose the easy way and wandered away from the light.

That we fall and fail in the journey of life is not a problem; that you missed the target is also not a problem, or that you lost it somehow, somewhere isn’t the issue; failure and missing it along the line is never a conclusion to the whole matter; it is just a part of the whole; what you do with failure. Someone can make a message out of his mess; make a star from his slum; it is never too late until you give up.

Reading through John 21:2-11, 15-18: you will discover these four things:
1. Shift in purpose.
2. Stripped of garment.
3. Sight of grace.
4. Summoned for commission.

• Shift in Purpose (John 21:2-3)
Life ultimately does not provide us all our wants and sometimes our needs. When people are faced with certain restriction in achieving their goals, they most times drift and shift in their purpose.

The Lord called Peter to be a “fisher of men.”Peter at the place of his encounter with Jesus abandoned his fishing net as a professional fisherman and followed the Lord whole heartedly (Luke 5:10b; Matthew 4:18-19). God’s original plan for Peter was to fish out men and make them ready for the kingdom; though a fisherman, trained over time to endure the cold and waves of the turbulent Sea of Galilee. Through his encounter with the Lord Jesus, he was separated spiritually from the sea of worldliness to sail the boat of the Church through the infallible word by catching men for Christ. That was the purpose for Peter’s creation.

Peter thought that Jesus will always be with him forever; but was disappointed when Jesus was hanged on the cross; when he could no longer endure the pain of losing his Master and Icon he said to the other disciples; these were people he was to give leadership to and uphold: “I am going back to fishing,” I am going back to where Jesus called me out from; I am going back to the net; to the sea and to the trade, what have you returned back to because you failed, because you missed it; because your expectations were dashed, therefore; the best thing is to go back. I hear the rebuke of the Lord telling us even now: “what are you doing?”

The moment Peter decided to go back to his net and the sea; others followed; every leader must be careful because whatever you do gains followers. Every error or evilcertainly gains followers. That people are following, supporting and applauding a leader does not make his decision right or that he is getting it right.

Whenever we shift from our purpose we end up toiling with other people’s purpose and struggling with little or no success. Every man’s consignment is tied to his assignment, which is purpose. Until we are in our location we cannot enjoy our allocation.

• Stripped of Garment (John 21:4-7)
When we miss the mark; we are stripped of glory, beauty and honour. In Genesis 3:7-10; Adam was stripped of divine covering when he disobeyed direct instruction from God: Of this tree you should not eat; he disobeyed and became naked. In Hebrew 12:16-17, Esau lost his birthright and paid dearly because of one morsel of meat. Sometimes what is appealing to us may rub off glory. In judges 16:1-21, the great Nazarene lost power, sight and glory and became “a grinder in the prison”verse 21.

All these men lost their purpose for hunger, desire and what the eyes can see. Over these years what has the enemy stripped you off and for what reason? Moses was stripped of the Promised Land, King Saul of the throne of Israel, the sons of Eli of the priesthood, Rehoboam of the ten tribes of Israel. What has the devil stolen from you; Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31-32, “And the LORD said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Mark this whenever you are destined for something big; the moment you are set to pursue a purpose, a dream or a target; the devil will desire to have you BUT you are not and can never be alone. “But I have prayed for you that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” verse 32.

• Sight of Grace (John 21: 10-14)
When grace stands up for you nothing can resist you. When Jesus stood up for Peter grace enabled his restoration. In Judges, grace made the hair of Sampson to grow again (Judges 16:22). Your hair can grow again, your gift can be restored again, and no situation is hopeless where God is involved. No matter how bad it looks, there is still hope. Until it grows again you cannot glow, yes! You cannot shine.

The Psalmist cried: “restore to me the joy of my salvation and take not thy Holy Spirit from me”Psalm 51:12. This can be your heart cry as you enter this new beginning.
Grace has a way of revealing the wretchedness of man and pulling him back to function; grace lifts up from shame to fame, from nothing to something, from fear to favour and may you encounter grace today in Jesus’ name.

• Summoned For Commission (John 21:15-18)
Our ability to access God’s mind and mission for us is in our communion with Him. After they have breakfast— beloved learn to take your morning meal with the Lord serious. There is a task to accomplish, and a mission to fulfill, an assignment to handle, but you need to eat.In 1Kings 19:7, the Angel of the Lord called out to Elijah, the prophet and said to him: “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.” No purpose is small, no task is little, no responsibility should be neglected, therefore, you need energy; you need to eat; the Lord calls upon us to have communion with him; start having communion now; before we can venture into that task, before you take that important task, eat! Every level you intend to step into have communion with the Master. If you will learn to dwell in God’s secret place, He will teach you to abide (Psalm 91:1).

Conclusion
There is restoration for you. There is hope for you, no matter what you are seeing now; DON’T AND NEVER GIVE UP! Never give up on yourself; never give up on God. No matter how far the devil has dealt with you, don’t give up. The reason you should never give up is because some destines are tied to you. Jesus said to Peter when you are converted strengthen your brethren. Until you are restored you cannot help those tied to you to be helped Luke 22:32. The injunction still remains when you are converted, when you are restored, when you have regained your purpose; help others.

• Venerable Stephen Wolemonwu is the Rector Ibru Ecumenical Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State (08035413812)