Peter was a broken man. He knew his personal betrayal of Jesus. He knew in that betrayal, he hurt Jesus. Jesus looked at him (vs. 61), which must have cut right to Peter's heart. It's no wonder that "he went out and wept bitterly." (vs. 62)
And yet, it is Peter who, after being told by the women about the empty tomb, "Got up and ran to the tomb."
(Matthew 24:12) It is Peter who will preach the first sermon about the meaning of the resurrection in the Book of Acts. It is Peter who will soon become the leader of the church at Jerusalem. This broken man learns from his failure, is filled with the Spirit, and becomes a great witness for God.
No one likes to fail. It's not fun. We feel bad for ourselves and others we may have hurt. We don't set out intentionally to fail. And yet, when we do fail, it drops us to our knees and makes us aware of our complete dependence on God. We may have thought we could do it on our own, but we are painfully reminded that we cannot.
Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes. Hopefully, it makes us wiser and stronger moving forward. Hopefully, it reminds us to turn to God and not rely on our own strength or understanding. I think it made Peter a better man and prepared him for what God had in store for him in the future. Most of my greatest growth as a person has come as a result of my mistakes and failures. Thanks be to God for lifting me up when I have been down, teaching me what I needed to learn and setting me on the right path once again.
AMEN Pastor Jeff! We make mistakes and hurt others, it is when we are able to acknowledge this and if we feel deep sorrow for our wrongs work hard to put things right, to avoid ever doing it again. I have been quick with my tongue and injured people I love dearly, forgiveness can be slow in coming from someone that you have injured as they are slow to trust you again. I have learned to hold my tongue and even better how healing a kind tongue can be. I praise God for His instruction and His example. I pray He continues to work His will in me.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for the many do-overs that God has given me...for the times when I could apologize, make ammends and change my behavior. I can totally identify with your conviction about having a quick tongue, Julie. Mine has been the worst when I've spoken in anger. A verse that I try to focus on is James 1:19b: be quick to listen, SLOW TO SPEAK, and slow to get angry.
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