2024_09_13 Insight Post- Tammy Anderson
This week’s reading- John 1:35-42, Mark 1:29-39, Mark 5:35-41, Mark 8:22-38, Matthew 14:13-36, Mark 14, Mark 16:7, John 21:15-25, Acts 2:14-41, Acts 10
I love reading about Peter. I’m grateful details of his story are recorded in the Bible because I can identify with his inconsistencies and setbacks. Despite them and because of what he learned from his shortcomings, Peter is one of the heroes of the Christian faith.
One of Peter’s interactions with Jesus that stands out to me the most is described in Mark 8:27-33. Jesus asked his disciples who people said He was and then went on to ask who they, the disciples, thought He was. Peter answered this question well, demonstrating he understood the Father’s will for Jesus — that He was the long-awaited Messiah for God’s people. Sometime later, Jesus continued the discussion, explaining that God’s plan for Him as the Messiah would include brutal suffering and death. Peter, who earlier had understood God’s purpose for Jesus, became upset and rebuked Jesus on this, and Jesus harshly reprimanded him for not understanding this part of God’s plan and explained again that hard things were to come.
In this interaction Peter lost sight of God’s perspective and lacked humility when he made his point with Jesus. This is something we need to keep in mind in our relationship with the Father – to have the Father’s perspective and to be humble.
Like Peter, I do not always understand God’s way of doing things–especially when it comes to suffering and disappointment and trusting God’s timing. But as believers, we have the privilege of bringing everything to Him, including hard questions and heavy concerns. As we do this, keeping God’s perspective means remembering that His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) and that we are to live with an eternal outlook and not merely an earthly one. It comforts me to know that our God is a loving Father who is always at work. He has a bigger purpose and plan.
As I wrestle in prayer over hard things and wait on God’s timing, I am reminded to have a humble heart. There have been times of waiting when I have gone my own way, thinking I knew best. And then there have been other times when I followed God’s direction but held back part of my heart from Him. Pulling away always creates a deadness inside; that is not God’s desire for us because He wants us to be fully alive in Him (John 10:10, Ephesians 2:4-5). Now that I am older and have seen HIS faithfulness over the years, I want to be stronger in MY faithfulness to Him and to be more fully alive in Him.
As we read more of Peter’s story, we watch him make more mistakes but ultimately live out the name Jesus gave him: the rock of His church (Matthew 16:18). This is how Jesus saw Peter. Today, Jesus sees us in ways we do not see ourselves–just as He did with Peter. Jesus sees who we can become as we grow in Him, humbly embrace His perspective, and live out His purpose for our lives.
Tammy Anderson
New Hope Small Group Leader & Children’s Ministry Volunteer