Jesus told His disciples, “You will all fall away, for it is written ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’” (Mark 14: 27). Falling away requires a situation when we are in danger and our life is on the line. Imagine if you were told to kneel before extremists chanting “Allahu Akbar” as they placed a knife to your throat. What would you do to save your life? At that point, a displaced faith – a faith placed in our misdirected self-confidence – will fail.  

When Jesus told his disciples they would all abandon Him, Peter rejected the Lord’s words, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you and all the others said the same” (Mark 14:31). After Jesus’ arrest and the violence that came against Jesus, “Everyone deserted Him and fled” (vs. 50) 

As the final disposition of Jesus’ case was being formed, Peter was standing in the courtyard of the High Priest. It was there where Peter uttered his final denial of the Lord, and then the rooster crowed. At that moment, Peter “broke down and wept” (vs. 72). He wept because his self-confidence had vanished in his failure. After the crucifixion was complete, Scripture tells us even his closest female followers also distanced themselves from the Lord and “Were watching from a distance” (15: 40). 

For those of us living in the United States, our faith has not been tested to the level that occurred when Jesus was violently arrested and crucified. Our lives and our faith do not hang in the balance because of our association with the Lord. But that can change as quickly as earthly events change and we find ourselves in a life-threatening situation.

While much of our teaching is rightfully done to build up the saints, we must also teach that we can all fail Him. The men and women who were following the Lord revealed a composite picture of the stature of our faith. We will all fail in some way if our safety, even our lives, are challenged by extreme violence. A displaced confidence – a self-confidence placed in our current level of faith – will always fail us in times of jeopardy.

Only confidence in Jesus and His ability to restore us after we fail Him is where we should place our confidence. Jesus knew what Peter would do when his association with Him placed Peter in jeopardy. He also knew He would need to restore Peter so his faith would endure into the future after his denial. Having that kind of faith in the Lord will give us a new level of hope that will endure the pain of the moment and our failure to respond properly.

The Lord knew Peter’s heart and the hearts of the rest of the disciples. Because the Lord knew their hearts, He would be faithful to bring them back from their place of failure to be restored. In that restored place, they would no longer be tempted to trust the limits of their displaced faith.