If I’m looking for a way to understand how strength and weakness coexist, I look no further than my good friend, St. Peter. Even his name announces the fascinating mix of saint and sinner that he was. “Cephas” means “rock,” both a sturdy foundation, and a sharp, irregular wall.
He knew in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah. Walking away from a fortune in fish, he joined Jesus that sunny day so long ago.
When Christ asked his Apostles, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15), it was Peter who answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And how can we forget our bold brother, as he commanded the lame man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” There was a lot of leaping and praising God that day.
This bold, spirit-filled man also had his moments of weakness. When Jesus told his disciples that he would have to suffer and die, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “God forbid, Lord!” We all know what’s coming next: “Get thee behind me, Satan.” When Jesus was arrested, Peter was lurking in the courtyard outside the jail. Scared witless, he denied Jesus three times. Your heart just goes out to the guy, doesn’t it?
My favorite story of the humanity of Peter is in Matthew:14. Peter sees Jesus walking across the seas in the middle of a storm. Peter calls out in great faith; “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.”
Jesus calls. Peter exits the boat. Peter sinks.
Now, this isn’t funny, but I can’t help but smile. I’m smiling because I recognize this. I’m just like Peter. Full of faith, sure. But full of doubt too. I know that Jesus is divine and can do anything. But can I
really do anything, if Jesus is with me? That’s where the rubber hits the road; this is the crisis of faith.
Peter decided, after leaving the boat, that he couldn’t walk on water. That would make a lot of sense if he was alone. But Jesus was with him; so all things are possible.
I had to take my ninety-six year old Aunt to WalMart to pick up her new glasses. I was scared to death. Having broken her hip last year, the resulting surgery left my Aunt significantly weaker. Leaning on a walker, her steps were faltering and unbalanced. A short woman, she needed to use a step to get up into my car. What if she falls?
Driving to pick her up, I prayed for safety, strength, and protection. Oh yeah, and for a WWF wrestler to show up and lift her in and out of the car! But like Peter, it was time to face my fears. Jesus is with me. All things are possible.
I am all the Lord has today to care for his ninety-six year old daughter. Why wouldn’t he help me?
I was able to support my Aunt, doing the ‘in-and-out of the car’ dance several times. She got her glasses, and, bonus time!, she got lunch at Baker’s Square. Not because of me, but because Jesus was with me.
It makes all the difference in the world. Just ask St. Peter.
Linking with Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday and Monday Musings
Linking with Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday and Monday Musings
Great post!
Hi Val! Thank you for coming over, and making an encouraging comment.
So nice to meet you through the bloghop!
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
This made my heart smile, thanks for sharing.
Hi Denise! I am so glad you liked it!
Have a wonderful Monday
Ceil
I’m like Peter, too. My faith in God is huge–when I’m praying for others. I run into the doubt when I question my worthiness to have my prayers answered. What a blessing you must be to your aunt.
Hi Pamela! We are all worthy with Jesus, as I think the episode with St. Peter teaches too. I know that God is looking lovingly down on his daughter (you!) when you pray. How happy you make him!
So excited that you joined me here
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
Because Jesus is with us–yes! That does make all the difference in the world. And that is how strength and weakness coexist. Beautiful post, Ceil.
Hi Lisa! So nice to see you here
Thank you for your lovely comment, strength and weakness are both in us! I am glad that it means that I can do great things too, in spite of my weakness.
Happy Monday!
Ceil
I love Peter’s story don’t you? It always strikes me in this story that Peter is the only one with enough faith to even get out of the boat…the other disciples just remained in the boat cowering. It also reminds me how important it is to keep my eye on Jesus for my strength and to accomplish those things He asks of me that I know I don’t have the strength to do. Sometimes we think of those things as being huge kingdom work…but sometimes it is those everyday tasks that we feel so unable to accomplish and you brought that point home.
Thanks for being such a blessing.
blessings,
Gay @ Captive Heart
Hi Gay! So nice to have met you, and thanks for coming over to read the post.
Your point is well taken about Peter being the only one to offer to get out of the boat. I thought about that after I posted. There is so much richness in every bible passage, I’d be writing for miles!
I hope to see you here often!
Ceil
Peter was such a human man, wasn’t he? Just like all of us, full of enthusiasm and love of the Lord…but, like all of us also, he hadn’t got the confidence.
Hi Elizabeth! So nice to see you, and thank you for coming over to make such a lovely comment. He certainly is like all of us in being human, and it’s so nice to have an Apostle for company!
Happy Monday,
Ceil
Oh I’m so blessed and grateful to God our Father for leading you to my blog so I could come and follow along here on your journey of life!~ Oh sweet sister..thank you for pouring out your heart and ministering to mine..((hugs))
Hi Angela! I was SO happy to meet you. I know that we will be blog-sisters for a long time.
I look forward to getting to know you better, and sharing your journey too
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
I like Peter, too. He gets so much right…and then puts his foot in his mouth. Kinda like me.
Isn’t it nice to be the hands of Jesus for someone? I am sure your Aunt enjoyed being with you. You are fortunate to have her.
Hi Donna! You are so right about St. Peter…Iove the ‘foot in mouth’ visual.
I am so fortunate to have my Aunt, and she teaches me about patience all the time. I need that
So lovely to meet you! I hope you and I will get to know each other.
Happy Monday!
Ceil
Dear Ceil
Oh, we all have so much of Peter in our hearts, don’t you think! Peter is the masculine for rock and Petra; the feminine. Well, I have many, many Petra moments in my life and they always happen when I take my eyes off our sweet Lord Jesus and look at life raging around me! I am glad your aunt has a niece like you to help her in her frailty! This is now such a good example of being Jesus’ hands.
Blessings XX
Mia
Hi Mia! You always have such interesting comments, and this is no exception.
Rock moments…that’s a great visual. Thanks for that
I am happy to help my Aunt, and I know that she appreciates me. We are so blessed!
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
Thank you for stopping by on my blog! Such a blessing!
Oh and I cannot tell you how many times I watched Jesus walking on water on YouTube! Ha!
We can really see the goodness of the Lord with Peter and how forgiving He is! Many waters cannot quench the Lord’s love!
I have my doubts as well, but this life is a journey home to heaven!
Blessings sister in Christ, hugs! ♥
Hi Ashley! Well, that is a good use of YouTube!
You are right to point out how forgiving Jesus is. He really is using Peter to make us all feel better about doubt. I’ll be following you now by email, so I hope to get to know you better
I was a blessing to meet you, Ashley.
Happy Monday,
Ceil
I love Peter’s story. I love that after his denial 3 times, God also asked him to feed his sheep 3 times. Oh, how sweet that our Lord reaffirms us and places the faithless in positions to share of the Faithfulness of God.
Thank you for saying hello on my blog.
Hi Anna! St. Peter’s lessons are all over the New Testament, and you named a few more. He is such a wonderful person to learn from and to take courage.
I love meeting new blog friends! It was a pleasure to meet you on your blog. I hope you will come back here again
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
May we keep our eyes on Him, and if we do, we will never fear and never fail!
Thanks so much for visiting and commenting on Saved by Grace!
Your blog is a blessing and I am now following it, and I invite you to follow Saved by Grace also:
http://savedbygracebiblestudy.blogspot.com/
Love in Him,
Laurie Collett
Hi Laurie! So glad that we met each other, I like making new blog-friends.
So happy that you liked the blog!
Peace In Christ,
Ceil
Ceil, this just made me smile. You were ‘walking on water’ in the Walmart parking lot. God is always teaching us to trust and obey, regardless of what we see.
Great reminder!
Hi Jody Lee! You are so right! I was, wasn’t ? I wonder what WalMart would think of that? LOL!
So nice of you to come by
Ceil
It is always so comforting to read the Bible and see that God has always chosen the imperfect and weak. I fit right in!
Hi Ginger! I completely agree. I think that’s why Jesus loved him so much. He knew we’d relate to him so well!
So great to meet you! Hope we become great blog-friends!
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
Jesus was with me. How lovely and what a great prayer, “Jesus, please be with me.”
Hi Elizabeth! So nice to see you!
I guess asking Jesus to be with me is the best prayer I could pray. He sure did answer me!
Hope you are doing well and enjoying your Tuesday!
Ceil
That was so precious! So sweet of you to take your aunt to do her errands! And to relate it to our Lord taking care of us even in our day-to-day busyness. Oh yes He cares! Love this!
Hi Nannette! I am very blessed to have my Aunt in my life, she teaches me patience
Jesus does care, that’s for sure, he kept us safe. What a great witness to his love!
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
Such a lovely and inspiring post! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Linda! Thank you for coming here and making such an encouraging comment! It was so nice too meet you, and I hope you will come over again, and we can get to know each other better!
Happy Tuesday!
Ceil
I’m glad you let Jesus use you to minister to your aunt. Sometimes I don’t allow Him to use me and regret it in the long run because, after all, He’s blessing us as we bless others. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Southern Gal! I am so happy that I found your blog!
You are so right about blessing others with Jesus when when we help them. Even though I was scared, I was willing to try, so that’s good!
Looking forward to learning more about you
Ceil
Ceil, I got so much encouragement from this post, thank you. It is lovely to pass through our fear on behalf of Christ. Have a blessed day. Tara.
Hi Tara! How nice to see you here! Thank you for poking around the blog. I appreciated all your lovely comments.
Yes, it’s like seeing the light after being in the dark…better to have faith than to fear, that’s for sure!
Blessings to you!
Ceil
Hi Ceil, what an awesome blog you have here. I can so relate to that “sinking” feeling! “I am all the Lord has today to care for his. . . Why wouldn’t he help me?” WOW! Those are sobering thoughts and just what I need to consider today.
Hi Betty Jo! How lovely to meet you! I am just tickled that you like the blog. I hope you will come here often. I like making new blog-buddies!
I like the ‘sinking feeling’ you mentioned. That is a good image
Happy Wednesday to you!
Ceil
Ceil – I have always loved St. Peter. He was quite a character…a wild blend of courage and recklessness. Oh how I can relate!
Hi Jen! Thank you for coming to visit today. I think we all can relate to his split personality
Happy Thursday!
Ceil