3 Phases of God's Involvment in Your Life

Three times Jesus invited Peter to be spiritually alert in the Garden of Gethsemane, and three times Peter fell asleep. A lot of ink is spent, and a lot of sermons preached, on how Peter denied knowing Jesus; but before Peter ever denied Jesus in big ways, he denied Him in small ways. (See Matt 26:36-46).

It seems to me there are three phases to God's involvment in our lives:

1) Invitation. God invites us into a new, deeper, perhaps stretching experience with Him. Perhaps we have never thought of this before. It is new. This can be exciting, but we are prone to get weary over time ... which leads to the second phase:

2) Correction. God patiently returns and challenges us back to his original call upon our lives. My experience has been that God is extremely patient and gracious in this phase. But it doesn't last forever. There is the 3rd phase:

3) Missed Opportunity. God will leave us slumbering if we ignore Him long enough. There are times when God wants to do things in our lives, but we are unavailable, so He will pass us by. And God still does what He has planned, but we miss out on the privilege of partnering with Him.

Makes me want to respond to His invitations, and corrections, quickly. How about you?

Well, Don... , Well Done!

Last Sunday, I'm sure, will stand as one of the most remarkable days of my life. I was invited to preach at my mentor pastor, Don Smith's, retirement celebration. He has served at Christ Community Church in Laguna Hills for 25 years. I am so grateful to have been able play a role in celebrating the faithfulness of God through the tenure of an amazing pastor. (It was also one of the rare occasions I ever preach in a suit!). Two of us gathered to pray with Don before the service. He looked at us and said, "It pays to persevere." We were speechless.

What do we do when we disappoint ourselves?

What do we do when we disappoint ourselves? Simon Peter learned the hard way just how far he could fall below his own standards. Confident he would never waver in his allegiance to Jesus, Simon Peter experienced a night of denials.

What do we do when we disappoint ourselves? It is then we must remember what Jesus told Simon Peter right before his denials:

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:32

Some quick takeaways for me:

· You will fail but it won’t be fatal

We usually don’t get the specific details ahead of time like Peter did, but we will fail somehow. Like Peter, the church has always been filled with people that are immature and broken, failing before they succeed. But, as a follower of Christ, your failures will not be fatal. This is known as God’s prevenient grace. That’s a big word, but it simply means, He gives us His grace ahead of time. There’s hope on the other side.

· Don’t get stuck there

God’s plan for you is to return. He knows this side of heaven will have its disappointments, but don’t let that cripple you. Remember Jesus is praying for you. Don’t get stuck focusing on your flaws.

· Look for ways to use what you’ve learned to strengthen others.

Embrace the grace that God offers you, utilize His strength to grow in that areas, and then help others to be victorious as well. Often the victory for us comes as we strengthen others.

Later You Will Understand

Peter didn’t get it. Why Jesus would stoop to wash Peter’s feet. Why the Messiah would mimic a slave. Peter didn’t get it.

It strikes me that we often don’t recognize what Jesus is up to in our lives. That’s why what Jesus told Peter is so applicable to me.

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." John 13:7

This is the real-life truth for those who choose to follow Jesus, captured in this passage: Later you will understand.

For whatever reason, God chooses to reveal his purposes to us on a need-to-know-basis. And often it is after the fact. In fact, some things we will only appreciate from Heaven’s balcony. Some events in our lives will only make sense in the rear view mirror. Faith means trust.

I suppose this makes you uncomfortable. It creates all kinds of Peter-like reactions. Like Peter we say to God, “You're going to do what?!? I need a little more information!”

And once again Jesus says, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. Trust Me."

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