Jesus’ mercy and grace in the light of His omniscience astounds me!
In Matthew 26:31 we hear Jesus tell His disciples that all of them, every last one of them, would be made to stumble because of Him. His omniscience enabled Him to know, from the day He called them as His disciples, that each and every one of them would tuck tail and run in His greatest hour of need.
These were his best buddies, his BFFs, his partners in ministry; yet when the rubber met the road, they deserted Him. Not only did Peter desert him, he even denied that he knew Jesus.
Have you ever betrayed another person? The consequences are usually quite unpleasant because people do not take kindly to betrayal. Have you ever betrayed Jesus? You may never have verbalized your denial of Christ, but perhaps your actions screamed betrayal and denial. I’ve been guilty…at least a zillion times.
The enemy of our souls loves it when we deny Jesus or betray another person. He waits in eager anticipation of our denial, and as soon as it is done, he begins his rhetoric.
“God will never forgive you for that.”
“You call yourself a Christian. No Christian would do that.”
“You will never be able to face that person again.”
“You are always such a screw-up. Why can’t you ever get it right?”
Do you know what Jesus says about your denial or betrayal of Him? He says to you the same thing He said to Peter in Luke 22: 32 (NKJV). Hear Him whisper, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers.”
In C.S. Lewis’ marvelous book, The Screwtape Letters, the senior demon, Screwtape, is writing to his nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood, a junior demon, is charged with making sure his ‘patient’ does not choose God. Screwtape muses to Wormwood that the Enemy (God) really seems to like humans, yet sometimes He allows them to choose to go astray. It mystifies Screwtape that even in the humans’ disobedience to God, God still loves the little ‘vermin’, as Screwtape calls mankind.
His words to Wormwood should offer us great comfort when we fail Jesus in our daily lives. Consider Screwtape’s words:
He (God) wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand, and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. (emphasis, mine) The Screwtape Letters p. 40
If only the will to walk is really there, God is pleased even with our stumbles. How does that hit you? What does that do to your heart? Can you fathom it? God is pleased with our stumbling and bumbling and failing Him, IF our heart desires to walk with Him. Just as a little child must stumble and fall many times before she learns to walk; so it is with you and me. We will stumble along in our faith walk until we see Jesus face to face. Only when we throw off this cloak of flesh and stand before Him, will we walk perfectly.
Until then, stumble on, my friend. He is pleased!!
