John 21:16 – “…Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep…”
Where do you stumble?
Some beat themselves up — “I am so clumsy, I don’t know what’s wrong with me” — and other expressions of self-disgust.
Others seem never to learn from mistakes.
They make the same mistake over and over again.
As the saying goes, twenty years of experience may just be one year of experience repeated twenty times.
Neither are the best approach to mistakes and life’s stumbles.
We can learn something from the current Olympic games.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch runner in longer distance races. She is the best in the field and is the world champion in the 1,500 meters and 10,000 meters, and third in the 5,000 meters.
When she came to Tokyo, she was favored to be the triple crown gold medalist of all three of those races.
Her first was the 1,500 meters race.
But on the final lap of her race, she got tangled up with another runner, was tripped, and fell to the track.
That usually ends a race for a runner.
But not Hassan.
She got up and started running again. She ran hard and started passing runners.
In the end, she won the race.
Imagine that — falling down, getting back up, and finishing the race.
Isn’t that the way to handle the stumbles of life?
Instead of staying down, get up and start running.
That’s what Jesus did with Peter.
Peter definitely stumbled. Three times, after a warning, he denied he knew Jesus.
The words must have tasted bitter in his mouth. They all came out around a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the high priest’s residence.
Within hours, the Jesus he denied knowing was dying on a cross. Three days later, he was alive again.
But while Jesus rose to life, Peter stayed passive. He went back to fishing until the morning found in John 21.
He sniffed the morning air, and there was another charcoal fire with Jesus sitting beside it.
Gently but deliberately, Jesus helped him to his feet and told him to start running.
And he did. Within days he stood before a Pentecost crowd telling them the good news, launching the kingdom Jesus had set up. He crossed the threshold and told the Gentiles about the Christ.
When you fall down, don’t stay there. Don’t wallow in self-pity or make excuses. Get up and get moving. Who knows where it will lead?
- Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
