God is like Wi-Fi. He is everywhere and easily accessible. And He has hotspots guess where? In us. In our spirits!! And the password is calling on His name! And His connection will never go out. The connection does not even go out when we lie to our friends or eat way too many brownies or skip a Bible study. His connection will never go out. He will never forsake us. We know this because He did not forsake Peter.

Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter. Smh. He is just another hot mess in the Bible. Peter annoys me but I also adore him—I feel the same way about myself, and this makes sense considering he is a picture of us. He is just a Jewish teenager with a sinful nature trying to figure out this thing called life. If they had TV back then, he would have his own Disney channel show called, The Disciple Life of Peter. Peter is our age. Can you imagine wandering around the Middle East eating unleavened bread, and casting out demons with Jesus? I imagine Peter just ate a lot of bread and asked Jesus dumb questions. He probably asked a lot of questions about dinosaurs. But his age is exactly why he is the perfect picture of a sinner who was not forsaken by God for us college students.

The Lord stated that one of His disciples would deny Him three times before a rooster crows, and Peter was sure it would never be him. He was so sure he could never deny the Lord. “Then he began to curse and to swear: I do not know the man! And immediately a rooster crowed.” Peter denied the Lord three times in Matthew, and to a servant girl. No one was holding him at gunpoint. His high school crush was standing there. He denied the Lord three times because he has a sinful nature just like us. And yet the Lord still did not forsake Peter.

Peter denied the Lord, felt terrible, and he wanted to hide from the Lord. This is exactly what we are tempted to do after we sin. We feel like we haven’t showered for three days after we sin, and without the blood a separation builds between us and Lord. “And he went out and wept bitterly” Peter’s sin separated him and the Lord; Peter was ashamed and wanted to hide. But he did not need to hide! Praise the Lord for the blood! Praise the Lord for the Spirit that lives inside us! The Spirit is living and working inside us!

Peter got a little crazy when the soldiers were trying to take Jesus away to be crucified. Peter literally chopped a guy’s ear off. Jesus was like cool your jets, “Or do you think that I cannot beseech My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than twelve legions of angels?” It was like Jesus was embarrassed, “I do not need my lil’ baby disciples to fight my battles. Slow your roll”.  I’m paraphrasing of course. Peter showed up to a gun fight with Q-tips and marshmallows. But wouldn’t you want to do the same? When I read this passage for the first time I thought, “You, go girl!” I thought Peter was making a sweet gesture, but in fact he was stopping the Lord’s purpose.

As believers we get this way. We think we can do it all through our natural strength, and that we know what God wants from us. We say things like, “I got this!” “God will love this!” And we forget to consult the Lord! We do things without thinking about His heart’s desire. Peter did not think about the Lord’s desires. Peter did not think about how necessary Jesus’ crucifixion was for fulfilling God’s purpose. Peter was thinking that God is going to love if I do this really awesome thing, and chop this guy’s ear off for Him. Peter did this again when Jesus was explaining his upcoming death and resurrection. “This shall by no means happen to You!” Peter did not realize how crucial that process was for the Lord entering into us. Jesus called him a “stumbling block” and said, “for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men”. Peter was thinking about his heart’s desires, not the Lord’s. Peter’s desire did not match the Lord’s.

We do things all the time that we think the Lord will love. And again, when reading this for the first time I thought Peter was such a sweet, swell guy. Peter thought the Lord would love to see Peter mourn for Him. But the Lord saw that as against His purpose. So how do we know what God will totally, like love?! You have to talk to Him! Talking to Him, spending time with Him, and having a personal relationship with Him is the best way know what is on God’s heart. And when you know what is on God’s heart you won’t do stupid stuff like chop a random guy’s ear off.

Peter made mistakes. He had failures. He thought after he denied the Lord three times that there was no way the Lord could forgive him. He thought there was no way the Lord could love him. Yes way! The Lord still loved Peter after his mistakes. The Lord still loves us after our mistakes! Praise the Lord for His love and mercy! The Lord specifically pointed out Peter after his death, “… tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, even as He told you.”

And Peter. This was such a precious message to Peter. And Peter you are still a disciple. And Peter, go be a fisher of men. And Peter, I still love you. And Peter, I will never forsake you.

Peter chopped a guy’s ear off, tried to stop the Lord from being crucified, and Peter denied Him three times, and God did not forsake him. When you are saved, you are saved eternally. There is no sin too great for the precious blood. And once the blood is applied He is no longer concerned with your past sins. The Lord will never stop loving you. He does not stop loving you because of failures or mistakes. They are indeed in the past. God still loved Peter. In fact, He called out Peter specifically to let him know that the he was still on the Lord’s heart. And even after doing things that Peter thought were unforgivable.

As humans we have sinful natures, just like Peter, but praise the Lord that we also have a spirit! Our zeal for the Lord is often misdirected, just like Peter’s. But if you don’t ask the Lord what He wants, then how do you know that’s what He wants? Knowing what is on God’s heart and having your heart match His, is essential to living a Christian life. God wants your heart’s desires to match His. We must grow in order to match Him. Why would the Lord forsake someone He wants to match? When you think the Lord could never forgive you or love you again, think of Peter. Pray “And Peter” and substitute your name for his.

By: Kolean Gudalj

Kolean Gudalj
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