Tuesday

Divorce Me!


Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
10 And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;

Within moments Peter fell from extreme self-confidence and pride to humiliation and fear. He would have many such experiences throughout his Christian life. In the context we find the root problem. Peter thought he knew more about his own business, commercial fishing, than Jesus did. Peter was arrogant and surly when Jesus told him to take him fishing. And he was impatient with Jesus.

Walking with Christ is hard on some of us… especially if we are prideful, know-it-alls, overly self-assured, and/or tend to be impatient with others. The fall can be hard and far, but Jesus will be sure to take us there… for our own good, and to make us useful to Him. He must have servants who are willing to do His will not their own will.

The realization of our failure will show us what we fear most… that we don’t measure up and that we aren’t what we believe ourselves to be or pretend to be, and that Jesus plainly sees that truth about us. Those of us who suffer from this arrogance generally do so out of fear. And when we loose face in the presence of Jesus it can be a horrible experience.

Peter’s response was, “Depart from me…” This word depart could be used by a failed husband or wife who is so distraught over their own failure that they cry out to their mate, “divorce me!” It is more than saying I am unworthy, it is saying I can’t stand that you see my shame. But Jesus said, “Fear not…” He knew Peter's agony. Peter had gone from one extreme to another in a matter of minutes. Now Jesus brought him back to a place of balance, a place of humility born from unconditional love. Wow...

5 comments:

  1. What a great illustration. It's a scary prospect to pray that God would humble us though because like you say, "He will". I usually add, "please, be gentle, unless there's no other way" at the end of prayers like this.

    God bless!

    Manifest Blog

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  2. Just came across your blog today. I really enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, keep up the blogging. Peace.

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  3. Great impact on this post. I don't want to be "divorced" from God but sometimes when all the failures pile up, you feel like saying what Peter said. Great comfort that God always calls us back and embraces us with His love.

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