I’ve heard self-overconfident statements of personal bravado being spoken and used in an attempt to convince people of the unfailing nature of a person’s faith. The truth is none of us know how we will respond when a real test of our faith comes and our life is in jeopardy.
When the time of the Lord’s arrest approached, He told the disciples, “All of you will desert me” (Mark 14:27). Peter overconfidently responded by saying, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will” (vs. 29). Peter would deny the Lord three times.
While awaiting His arrest, Jesus walked away from the disciples to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was when Jesus uttered His most intense prayers to the Father. On repeated returns to His disciples, He found them sleeping because they were so tired, “They couldn’t keep their eyes open” (vs 40). After the Lord’s third return to the disciples He announced, “The time has come” (vs. 41), then Jesus was arrested by a mob armed with swords and torches. At the moment of His arrest, “All his disciples deserted him and ran away” (vs. 50).
The most extreme testing of our faith will not take place until our lives are on the line like it was for the disciples when Jesus was arrested. The disciples knew their affiliation with Jesus was a death sentence. All the other forms of testing can be overcome with just a small measure of commitment and a little bit of faith. Life and death scenarios are a completely different issue.
Our insulated expression of faith in the American church can create a spiritual bravado that will quickly dissolve when our faith is tested with death because of our commitment to Jesus. Before those extreme tests appear, we can become like Peter saying, “Not me!” We can too easily deny the Lord when the sword of government is unsheathed.
When we fail these extreme tests, we must first and foremost, rely on God’s mercy. His mercy is available to all who call Him Lord, even those who failed Him in a moment of fear. Jesus knows what we will do even when our bravado has blinded us from seeing our true selves. He remains committed to us and provides restoration for our failure.
In the Gospel narrative, we see Peter and the other disciples being restored from their place of fear and failure. That is how God works in our lives when we fail. He brings another chance to restore us after we became overwhelmed by our failure. Our attitude of humility, not bravado, allows the Lord to come and lead us to a place where we will be willing to sacrifice it all for Him, even our lives. That is the power of the Lord’s restoration.
Thank you for this very important reminder. I am in a high place in my faith right now and This was a good lesson for me to remember that I can fall from any place on the mountain. I am blessed by your faithful words every day on Facebook. I pray for you. May God bless you and your family as we enter these darkest of days.