Peter.
I wonder if he knew how messy life would become when he first heard Jesus call him. “Follow Me” probably seemed easy at the time.
How could he have known that every impetuous action was going to be recorded in Scripture for all time?
He was the one Jesus called out onto the water to walk to Him. But when he steps out and realizes the force of the wind and the waves, he panics and begins to sink.
He was the one who would deny knowing Jesus and instantly regret it when the cock crowed three times.
And Peter, one of the disciples on the beach when Jesus appears to them. We find the account in John 21:15-23. Jesus invites them to come and have breakfast. No one asks any questions – yet.
After a hard conversation between Jesus and Peter, Jesus says to Peter, “Follow Me!”
But Peter, feeling singled out, now points at another disciple and asks, “But what about this man?”
And in a way that only Jesus could, He says, “What about him? What is it to you what happens to him? You follow Me!”
They were all disciples. Yet Jesus spoke these words to only Peter that day. Peter, the impetuous one, asked the question and wanted to know the answer.
He’s no different than we are. We look to those around us, their journey often different than ours, and wonder, “Why?”
Why is our life different than theirs? Why couldn’t things have gone differently for me?
This conversation between Jesus and Peter brings the reminder that following Christ is an individual occurrence. No journey is alike. He calls us personally and sets us on a path all our own.
We want our spiritual walks to be equal, to be the same and yet, God has made each of us unique and our journey will be uniquely our own.
So don’t worry about the path others may be on.
Hear Him say, “Follow Me!” and walk after Him.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, NASB)
Lisa Blair shared two posts on prayer last week. In her post, How to Persevere in Prayer in Today’s World, she encourages us to “Let us persevere in prayer in faith to our God who is Faithful and True.” In her second post, Praying for the Nations, you’ll find a wonderful and timely resource for praying in these times.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Photo by Dunamis Church on Unsplash
Today I am joining …
Thank you for highlighting my posts on prayer, Joanne, I appreciate it! This is a good reminder, “Following Christ is an individual occurrence. No journey is alike.” I’m thankful He is a God who sees, hears and knows all about us and our walk with Him. “He is intimately acquainted with all our ways.”
What a great message, Joanne! Love this thought, “… following Christ is an individual occurrence. No journey is alike. He calls us personally and sets us on a path all our own.”
If we only keep our eyes on Jesus going before us and focus on our journey.
I don’t worry about the path others are on because I know my spiritual walk can’t look like yours for example yet we are included in each other’s walk in a small way through the blogging community. We are individuals on a unique journey with our Heavenly Father. With that said, I do wonder why he allows certain things to happen in my life. The hymn, “Many things about tomorrow (today) I don’t seem to understand…but I know who holds today and I know who holds my hand.
Though we’re saved through faith in Jesus as Savior, our journeys can look vastly different–and that’s such a good thing. God has different things for us to do and has created us all with different personalities. He can work through and in so many varieties of people and pathways.
I love the thought of Jesus inviting us to journey with Him. And it’s so true, each journey is unique, and we do not need to compare or worry about anyone else’s journey!
I am more grateful every year for the uniqueness of every single path. He’s so creative in working with everything we make available to him.
I so enjoy visiting you every week and reading your thoughtful words.
I love this perspective – that the call on our lives is individual – personal – not contingent on someone else’s call/decision sitting around the table! It brings into the focus that one-on-one relationship with Him that He calls us into! It reminds me one of my very favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis (in The Horse and His Boy): “Child,’ said the Lion, ‘I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.”
Yes we definitely each have a journey that is unique with Him alone, Joanne.
Great post, I like how you brought that together 😊
Bless you,
Jennifer
Amen. Follow Him.
Joanne, Maryleigh and I must be on the same wavelength this week because the Narnia quote she shared is exactly what went through my mind as I read your post. 🙂 God used this quote and the passage you mentioned where Jesus basically tells Peter to mind his own business in a powerful way when we were going through infertility. Comparison is a joy killer and a peace stealer, for sure.
I always relate to Peter because I can tend to be impetuous. But I love what you said, ” No journey is alike. He calls us personally and sets us on a path all our own.” Peter’s journey is Peter’s, my journey is mine. So glad God treats us as individuals!