Peter

By He Reads Truth

I just gave one of my children a stern lecture because she asked me to make pancakes. I can admit that in the way I reacted to her request for her favorite breakfast, you would have thought she had actually slapped me across the face.

My excuses? Tired, new baby, up all night, deadline looming. The pancake request felt like another thing I was failing at, and the victim of my feelings was my poor pancake requester.

I hate failing my family. When I say something or do something I need to later apologize for, there’s something in me that says that I shouldn’t have any failures after twenty-some years of being a Christian. Shouldn’t failure only exist in my before-Christ era? I can so easily get lost in a spiral of focusing on me and my performance. I wonder, standing before a risen Jesus, if Peter felt the same.

In today’s reading, Jesus asked Peter to leave His fishing boat behind and follow Him. In response, Peter dropped his nets. When Jesus walked on water, Peter stepped out of the boat to join him. When Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter was the first to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah. He followed fast and recognized who it was that he was following. Yay, Peter!

But that’s just the highlight reel. We also read about Peter sinking the moment he took his eyes off Jesus. He tried to talk Jesus out of going to the cross. And of course there’s his infamous denial of Jesus (times three!), pretty much immediately after promising Jesus that he’d never deny Him.

I relate to Peter so much. Maybe you do too. I can remember my Jesus-following-highlight reel moments. But honestly, it’s easier for me to remember all the ways I’ve failed Jesus since surrendering my life to Him. The pancake moments are easy to recall. But I only get stuck there when I forget the gospel. Peter and I have many lowlights, but we also have Jesus and His saving grace.

After Jesus died for Peter’s failures (and mine and yours), He came back and He restored Peter. He came back and used Peter to build His church. He didn’t rise from the dead and return to condemn. Instead, He redeemed Peter and gave him a purpose.

At Pentecost, it wasn’t Peter’s new and improved awesomeness that changed him from a coward to a bold missionary—it was the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s story ends up not even being about Peter—it’s about Jesus. And the same is true for all of us.

When we, like Peter, are able to see our Christian-highlight-reels for what they really are—the work of the Holy Spirit, and are able to see our Christian failures for what they really are—completely covered by the finished work of Jesus, we are able to walk confidently and powerfully in our purpose without shame over our past or our future failures.

Whether or not you joyfully made pancakes today or snapped at a pancake seeker, take heart—not because you’ll do better next time but because the grace of Jesus is more powerful than your worst moments. If you’ve recognized Him as Lord of your life, like Peter did, you can rest. And you can recognize Him as Lord again tonight and tomorrow and next time a child asks you for pancakes.