“And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.” Luke 22:58

It is a human frailty to experience fear and weakness at certain times in our lives. As born-again believers we walk this journey of life by our faith in God. However, the road that we travel does not have a straight path upward to heaven; the road has many twists and turns that go up and down. There are times, especially in this current day and age that circumstances can bring uncertainty and fear in situations near and dear to the heart; but God’s unconditional love for us will never disappoint and will keep us throughout eternity!

The apostle Peter found himself in a similar situation when He denied the Lord three different times.  After the arrest of Jesus, Peter followed close behind to see what would happen to the Lord; He hid and tried to appear as one of the crowd because he feared that they would certainly be arrested and killed as well.

Jesus had already told Peter that he would deny Him after the cock crowed three times; and we can imagine that Peter wholeheartedly never believed it would happen…but he momentarily succumbed to his own human fears and weaknesses-denying Christ . . . “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:61-62.

We’ve all fallen prey to our weakness and fears at one time or the other, are you there today? The good news is that Jesus knows our every weakness… and we can rest in this assurance that He has a divine plan for each of our lives that absolutely nothing can thwart!  ^“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6.

Peter may have denied Christ, but God used his weaknesses to equip him to lead and strengthen his brethren “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:32.

Not only did Peter strengthen the other disciples, but he became a firm support for the early church in Jerusalem, fervently exhorting and training others to follow the Lord. My friends, to this day we are still being strengthened, encouraged and admonished by the words of the Lord written by the Apostle Peter.

God used Peter’s failures, including his three denials, to rename him from Simon, to Peter, or a stone…this reverence was to Jesus’ redefining Peters role in discipleship—it was on his profession of faith- the truth of who Jesus really is- the Son of the living God-that he would be empowered to go forth and proclaim the gospel!

^“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

We can rest in the love, compassion and faithfulness of the Lord regardless of our human frailties – for though we are weak…in Him we are strong! “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Lamentations 3:22.