When Peter
Struck Out
The
Apostle, Peter, became one of the heroes of the Christian faith. He was a determined man, a strong-willed man,
it seems. We get to know Peter through
the lenses of the days leading up to the crucifixion of Christ.
In
Luke
22:54-62 Peter is by a fire keeping warm.
Christ was across the courtyard under guard. A servant girl approached, seemed to
recognize Peter, and said so.
He
denied it, of course. Strike One.
A
short time later, another woman approached Peter and said, “You are one of his
followers. I saw you.”
Again,
Peter denied it. Strike Two.
Soon,
a man called out that he, too, recognized Peter, for he was a Galilean.” This time, with more emphatic words, Peter
said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I don’t know that man.”
Strike
Three
And
then the cock crowed, and Peter knew he was down for the count. He had done the very thing he had sworn to
never do. He denied his Christ three
times.
Peter,
recognizing what he had done, went out from that courtyard, found a place of
solitude, and wept bitterly. He thought
he was a player. He thought he was the
strong one, the rock, the steady one.
And
yet … he failed.
He
struck out. What misery he felt. He thought he was a loser. The game was over.
And
yet, after the resurrection, word came to Peter of a direct message to him from
the lips of the resurrected Christ himself. “Tell my disciples, and Peter, that I go before you into Galilee.” Mark 16:7
A
ray of hope.
An
encouraging sign.
It
is as if Christ is saying to Peter, you get to bat again.
There
is no more sign of encouragement for a batter than to be allowed to bat again
after a strike-out. That means the coach
has restored his faith in you. And Christ
knows the heart of Peter. He knows of
his weakness, and his betrayal, and yet … Jesus sees the value in this strong
player on His team.
He
wants Peter to know he is forgiven and restored to grace. He becomes an A-team player once again.
That
is grace, my friend. The God of the
universe looks beyond our faults and sees our needs. He sees what is inside, what good He can
redeem and use.
That
is GRACE!
And
it is offered to you, to me, to all mankind.
Our past responses don’t matter.
What can we become in the future – that is our mandate, our
mission.
Go
and become a great one for God!
Thanks
be to God.
Now, enjoy this classic from Dottie Rambo of
He Looked Beyond My Faults
and Saw My Need.
If the above link does not work, use this one.
P Michael Biggs
Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration
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