What if the worst thing that’s happening to you right now is actually part of [music] God’s plan for your good? Jesus saw suffering coming and he didn’t run. Perspective [music] is everything. And by the end of this episode, I want you to be able to face your most difficult situation without fear and [music] without control because it’s going to make all the difference.
I was reading in my morning devotions in Matthew 16 and Jesus is with his disciples and he’s telling them that he’s going to go to Jerusalem and when he’s there he is going to be treated terribly by the leading priests by the teachers of religious law. They’re going to persecute him and then they’re going to kill him and then he’s going to rise from the dead.
Notice first of all that Jesus knew that the suffering was coming. He wasn’t scrambling to avoid the pain. He wasn’t confused. He wasn’t caught by surprise. He knew exactly what was about to happen. He knew that bad things were coming. He understood that evil people were going to do evil things that he would be unjustly punished and he would die.
But Jesus saw the whole perspective from God’s point of view. But Peter couldn’t see this. He said, “Heaven forbid, Lord, this will never happen to you.” You see, Peter saw the enemies of Jesus as the problem. And he thought that the suffering that was about to happen was being driven by people who needed to be stopped.
Peter missed something crucial. God was in control. God was allowing evil to take place. God was permitting what he hates in order to accomplish what was necessary. The evil people who committed the evil acts are responsible for their actions but they are not sovereign. God is. And when Peter tried to stop the plan of God, when he tried to rescue Jesus from the suffering, Jesus said something stunning. Get behind me, Satan.
Now, Jesus was not implying that Peter was demon-possessed. He was telling Peter that you are playing the role of Satan right now. You are trying to control the circumstances. That’s what Satan always tries to do. He tries to play God. He tries to be the sovereign. He tries to be in control, but he is not.
He tries to stop redemption by avoiding suffering. He offers shortcuts. He whispers, “There’s an easier way.” But Jesus called that right out in Peter. And he said to Peter and the disciples and to us by extension, if anyone wants to be my follower, he needs to give up his own way, deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
This is the lesson that Peter needed to learn, and it’s the lesson that you and I need to learn. We’re not called to control outcomes. We’re not called to try to control circumstances to avoid pain. We’re called to be faithful to God even when obedience means suffering. Jesus said that if we try to hang on to our own life, we’re going to lose it.
