Simon Peter loved Jesus passionately, but that love did not keep him from falling short. And man did he fall short, not only did he, along with the other disciples, flee from Jesus at the most crucial moment but He denied the Lord not once but three times. He loved the Lord but he still failed. This may be the same for many of us. We love Jesus; we love God but we keep failing at being the disciples we believe we should be. Peter was just the same, and through his story a lesson can be learnt and that is, despite our failures God loves us and will use us still.
Peter’s Story
Peter was a fisherman; this was his life and his livelihood. It’s what he did everyday to ensure he had food on the table and to keep his hands busy. But when Jesus came and called him (Matthew 4:19), he left all that behind to seek something far greater.
When Peter’s journey with Jesus began he witnessed many miracles. He saw people rise from the dead, the sick healed, the tormented and possessed brought to peace. (Matthew 4:23) He saw Jesus transfigured in all His divine glory. He witnessed Jesus’ compassion, His patience and His power until the Father Himself revealed to Peter that Jesus was in fact the Son of God. (Matthew 16:15-17)
No doubt all of this led to Peter loving the Lord more and more. In fact Peter loved the Lord so much he was desperate to prove it with his actions. When Jesus was transfigured Peter was the first to suggest building Jesus a tabernacle. (Mark 9:5) When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the waves Peter was the only one who asked for Jesus to call him onto the water too. (Matthew 14:28). Then when Jesus prophesied that the disciples would leave Him, Peter swore that he would not depart from the Lord, even if he was threatened with death. (Matthew 26:33-35)
But when the threat of death came, Peter denied Jesus. He swore and cursed that he did not know Jesus. (Matthew 26:69-75) Three times he denied the Man he was so desperate to serve. Three times he denied the Man that he so passionately loved. And he wept.
But after the crucifixion, Jesus rises from the dead and Peter returns to Him. He runs to see His empty tomb (Luke 24:12) and when the Lord appears to His disciples on the beach, Peter plunges into the sea to meet Him. (John 21:7) After this Jesus speaks to Peter, despite the fact that Peter denied Him, despite the fact that Peter ran from Him when he promised that he wouldn’t. Jesus speaks to Peter and entrusts him, the man who failed Him at the most important time, with feeding and tending His sheep and lamb. (John 21:15-18) Peter listens to Jesus, not holding onto his earlier failure and steps out in faith to do just that and he goes on to become one of the most famous apostles in the Bible.
Lessons to be Learnt
Many of us may be like Peter. We love the Lord passionately and all we want to do is serve Him and please Him. But our human nature has us falling short every time. We want to love but find ourselves getting annoyed with people or being impatient. We want to be giving but we hesitate to part with things we believe will benefit us more. We want to proclaim Jesus but we find ourselves, like Peter, denying Him with our actions. But there is hope for us as there was hope for Peter. Our failings are not the end of the story just as Peter’s failings were not the end of his story. All we need to do is take the first step and turn back to God.
- Turn Back
When we do not meet the holy standard God calls for, when we fail to serve as we should, love as we should, live as we should. We needn’t let this keep us from God. Rather we should let it lead us back to Him.
When we fail we should remember that we serve a God who is perfect, and glory in that. We should remember that He who has begun a good work in us will complete it. (Philippians 1:6) And like Peter we should not run from God when we make a mistake, we must run back to Him. We must plunge back into the seas of His love, knowing that we can be and are forgiven, and we can be redeemed.
- God Will Still Use Us
Another lesson we can learn from Peter is that God loves us despite our shortcomings and He will use us in spite of them, just as He used Peter. Peter who denied Jesus and later in his ministry even started behaving like a hypocrite (Galatians 2:11-12). This same Peter, Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven and made the rock of the church. (Matthew 16:18-19) This same Peter became one of the greatest apostles. If God could use him, He can use you.
- God Knows Your Heart
The final lesson to be learnt is that God knows our hearts, just as He knew Peter’s. Peter’s shortcomings did not change the truth that was in his heart; he loved Jesus. That is why Jesus was able to send Peter to be make disciples of the nations along with the others, because He knew that Peter’s heart was for Him, despite his failures. It is the same with us.
We are vessels, imperfect and broken, but God is still willing to use us. That is a lesson that Peter learned throughout his life as he served Jesus, now we must now learn it as we step out and serve Jesus as well. We must continue to press toward the high calling of God, knowing that our perfect, patient Father will strengthen us and enable us to do all He wants us to. We must rely not on our own strength but on the strength of His spirit within us and proclaim, even when we fail, that we can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13) Amen.
