If it were not already dark, he would have wished it so. He couldn’t hide himself from his shame, but no one else would be able to see, at least for the few hours left of the night. The bitterness of his words still stuck in his throat, and, coupled with the look of love mingled with profound sadness, brought on sobs of grief that rocked him like waves on the sea. He was intimately familiar with waves and the sea.
We know people who seem to go from one scrape to another. Acting before they think things through. Speaking before weighing the import of their words. Outspoken, impulsive, and sometimes rash. Unless we’re like them, we tend to avoid spending a lot of time in their company, because being with them, you never know what’s going to happen next. It can be uncomfortable, and a bit scary.
These personalities can also be leaders. Once they understand and humbly accept their own limitations, their eagerness and drive to act can be channeled to accomplish great things and mighty deeds.
Simon Peter gets a bad rap. All my life I’ve heard him described as someone who constantly puts his foot in his mouth, and sometimes, both feet.
But I’d like to ask you this – who else, during a full blown storm, not only asked to walk on the water, but got out of the boat, and walked? Who else proclaimed before any of the others that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God? Who else, out of love and fealty, drew his sword and struck out to protect his best friend and Messiah?
Yes, Simon Peter was impulsive and brash. He didn’t think before acting or think before speaking – not always. Didn’t God give him that personality? Didn’t God create him to be bold and outspoken? Of course He did.
Simon Peter’s all-in love and devotion to Jesus drove him forward, compelling him to say and do whatever came to his mind, and sometimes he didn’t handle things in the best way. And when it mattered most, his human fear overpowered him and he made his last huge mistake, denying the very One he loved so dearly. But God, knowing all this, stooped down and met Peter there in the dark. He lovingly and firmly broke him, restored him, then re-shaped him into a vessel fit for the Master’s use.
Simon Peter is a great example for us today of, not only God’s unspeakable grace, but of His desire to use us in mighty ways for the Kingdom. When, because of our shame, we finally recognize our limitations, God steps in, in His infinite love and wisdom, and makes us into His ambassadors for Christ.
The Apostle Peter never again wavered in his faith. He never again denied the One who bought him with His blood. Peter was redeemed, although not perfect in this life. But that’s what’s so remarkable about God – He loves to use the least of these to accomplish His work.
Remember, your Heavenly Father gave you your personality for a specific reason. Ask Him to show you how to use it to accomplish great things for Him. Be willing to be broken and re-made.
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’” (John 21:15-17)
