Posts Tagged: the Apostle Simon Peter

“Even When We Mess Up”

On September 8, 2024 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

One of my students in the Luke-Acts course I’m teaching right now online made a very perceptive comment in a post to another student’s work. She and the other student, Mackenzie, agreed on an excellent point: God can even use our mess-ups for his purposes and glory.

 Here is Victoria’s comment:

“Mackenzie, your perspective on how “each character [in Luke] fulfills the will of God in some way or another” is quite interesting. While a character like Peter can find himself denying Christ in chapter 22, it remains evident in the chapters before that God is using Peter to advance His Kingdom. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that you would even argue that this event of Peter denying Jesus “fulfills the will of God in some way or another.” I do believe that God should not, can not, and will not be limited by our actions. I believe He has the ultimate and final authority in how the events that play out over time will affect the advancement of His Kingdom.” (Victoria Damian, used with her permission.)

When I was a pastor, I did some teachings on the Apostle Simon Peter. One of my visual aids was a graph which showed the ups and downs of the Rock on which Christ was to build his church. The chart had sharp spikes upward, followed almost immediately by plunges well below the base line.  Of course, after the coming of the Holy Spirit (recorded in Acts 2), the progress was perhaps less spectacular, but far more sustained. However, even in Acts, Peter had his ups and downs.

What does all this tell us about ourselves and about God? When it comes to us, Peter’s erratic discipleship could give us some hope and comfort. A lot of us (and I speak from experience here) are anything but consistent. Sometimes we wonder, “Can God use such an up-and-down person as me?” Looking at Peter, I would say that the answer is a resounding “Yes!” We can take some hope and comfort from this, as well as the determination to go on.

In terms of God, Peter is a sign to us all that God can, does, and will still use us. Messing up does not mean that God has given up on us. Yes, we certainly need to repent. Yes, we need to do things differently. But God does, in fact, use us. I have heard it said that God used cracked pots. I have also heard that God uses crackpots.

Good thing! Also, God thing!

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