God calls us to Him more than once.
“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 21:17)
This was after Peter’s fear led him to deny knowing Jesus three times. This was after Peter’s worst night and deepest shame had brought him to remember “the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” This was after Peter cursed and lied and turned his back. This was after “[Peter] went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:75)
Jesus made Peter a disciple, knowing what was coming. He allowed Peter space to grieve, process, repent, and come back. Jesus didn’t forbid Peter because he would mess up and fail. He gave Peter more opportunities to profess his love. Even though it would be painful for Peter and Himself, Jesus asked and waited. “Do you love Me?” He knew Peter’s answer would bring healing. And after Peter replied, Jesus assured him his work wasn’t done. Jesus shared He still had a planned and redeemed future for Peter. It wasn’t over.
I think we can all relate to Peter. I’ve denied what I secretly knew to be true. I’ve let truths become twisted into lies if they would better serve my plan, my purpose. I’ve let fear dictate my actions and reactions. I’ve let my voice and heart and mind betray each other. I’ve cursed and wept and screamed, wanting nothing to do with the consequences of my choices. And I’ve let a beautiful repentance turn into a guilt that derails me.
Peter can feel like a reflection of us all.
And yet Jesus isn’t thrown by him. He understands Peter’s humanness- our humanness. It was our sin nature that led Jesus to be born both God and man. It was the gaping divide between holiness and humanness that led Jesus to die and rise again so we could be granted a supernatural place with Him.
I love that after this conversation, Peter accepted Jesus forgiveness to be true. I love that Peter didn’t remain stuck in guilt, but chose to live in love.
God pursues us more than once, both whispering and shouting into our darkness.
“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ But he said, ‘I did not call, lie down again.’ So he went and lay down.” (1 Samuel 3:1-5)
It feels like word from the Lord is rare now. And visions? What are those? Night is all around us.
Every generation faces a different yet familiar darkness. We’re all struggling to figure out what to do and where to turn. It’s hard. We have to strive to recognize His work. We have to pray for ears that hear and eyes that see. We have to look for His miracles, both past and present.
I know there are times God is gently using and doing things to get my attention, but I stay distracted. My attention lands on someone or something else. He’ll use people, and I’ll give credit solely to His creation and not to Him too. It’s hard to know what’s what this side of heaven. But in darkness, in the emptiness of defeat or the silence of a long and weary night, there’s a blessing that comes from having little. It’s easier to choose Him when it feels like there’s no one and nothing else.
When I’m lying on the floor, I’m looking for a light- any light- and I’ll find His. His Word will be brought to life in my heart.
“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’” (1 Samuel 3:7-10)
I love that the Lord kept calling. I love that He was patient in the unfolding of His plan. I love that He waited for Samuel to recognize Him. I love that He gave Samuel time to learn what to do. I love that His plan allowed Samuel time.
God waits for us, saving us more than once.
“‘All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.’” (John 6:37-40, Jesus)
He won’t cast us out when we come to him. He’ll raise us up on the last day. His salvation is active. His death and resurrection are still saving. His power has not and will not diminish. When I’m stumbling and struggling through sin, I need the reminder that his forgiveness is always available. Always waiting. I just have to seek it. I have to want it.
God shares His love more than once.
“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” (Psalm 139: 16-18)
“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3-5)
We can rest in this truth:
In all that He has created, despite the ways sin has changed and corrupted both the world and us, Jesus never let go of His plans for us. From the beginning, He has offered us hope. (Gen. 3:14-15, Jeremiah 29:11-14, John 3:16, 1 John 1:9)
Jesus experienced our humanity. His compassion carries our sin away- as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12-14)
He calls us to Him more than once. It’s not too late to use the opportunities He’s given us. But it is wrong to be cavalier with His grace. It’s wrong of us to expect it and count on it without doing our own heart-work.
“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6: 21-23)
One day, He’ll return. He's given us His spirit as a Helper until then. (John 14:15-18)
Let’s start getting ready now.