I understand what Peter did in Mark 14: 53-65.
He kept a distance between Jesus and himself, in order to try to figure things out.
The distance was built by fear, wasn’t it? Fear was the master engineer of Peter hanging back. Fear had the blueprints and designed the moment in today’s passage.
Later, the church was built on Peter and the apostles however, presently, he was failing the fear-test in a spectacular way.
If this situation was a deli, fear sandwiches were the only thing on the menu for Peter that day.
Fear is like a cold, freezing pair of hands squeezing our spirits.
Fear has dread baked right into the middle of it. Dread can rule our lives. Dread can make us lose our dreams. Dread can cause suicides.
Peter was dreading what he was witnessing.
When you give in to fear, it is like watering a poisonous vine that chokes any and everything in its path. When you give in to fear, you fertilize the destructive vine. It is like you are feeding the monster in the backyard. Not smart.
Fortunately, as Peter becomes filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts, we see a movement away from what this passages outlines today. He no longer is dominated by fear. The poisonous vine dies and the Spirit ushers in strong, transformational courage.
The monster in the backyard evaporates.
What are you afraid of today?
Trust God today to give you the grace to face that one fear down and as you do, you will be ready to face down the next fear, then the next then the next.
And transformation will have arrived.
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