It’s Never Too Messy or Too Late
Published May 7, 2024
By Gaye Lindfors
Do you ever wonder if your mess is too big? If relationships are too broken? If it’s too late?
Wondering if God could ever transform your heart or change your life? I bet most of us have been there.
When my own not-so-good choices and hurts and tough situations threaten my belief that God is still bigger than all of the messes, I remember Peter.
Peter.
He was passionate. Expressive. Emotional. And at times, a real mess.
Not perfect. Not proper. Not the pretty box tied up with a pretty bow who has it all figured out.
And he’s one of the 12 people Jesus chose to live and travel and work with as part of his inner circle – his disciples – his world-changers. Pretty cool group to be a part of, right?
Peter makes me think, and he makes me smile.
Peter reminds me that God never stops forgiving. He never stops inviting or calling. And He never stops transforming.
Just think about this for a moment … back to that very first Easter weekend …
Soldiers came to take Jesus away to be killed.
How did Peter respond? He used his sword to cut off the right ear of one of the soldiers.
Impulsive and intense, in dramatic and drastic defense of his friend and leader.
Yet when Jesus was arrested and things got rough, Peter abandoned Him publicly, adamantly denying that he knew Jesus, or that he was a disciple.
Perhaps afraid of what people might think of him?
Peter moves in a few short hours from being an aggressive defender to a fear-filled denier.
Oh. I bet many of us understand how this could even be possible, right?
After being raised from the dead, Jesus lovingly and mercifully asks Peter three times if he loves him. This is the chance for Peter to move beyond his denials and guilt. And three times Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Can’t you just hear the emotion that would have been in Peter’s voice? The humility, the embarrassment, the tears?
What does Jesus say back to Peter?
Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep.
And in that moment, everything changes. All of Peter’s passion and commitment and desire to be who God wants him to be comes alive.
Peter is forgiven. Transformed. He is reminded that even in his inadequacy, his messes, his mistakes, God still loves him. Forgives Him. Wants to be with him. Calls him.
I get it.
Peter didn’t have his act together.
Jesus knew that.
He called him anyway.
I don’t have my act together.
Jesus knows that.
He calls me anyway.
You may not have your act together.
Jesus knows that.
He is calling you anyway.
He’s calling you today to walk with Him. Offering you that same forgiveness. A start-again moment.
How will you respond to His invitation?
