Fear of an unknown future

⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.^[j]  Mark 14:70-72. ESV

Which page of sin and failure from your life would you like to have recorded in the Bible?  Peter’s denial included lying all within 12 hours of his famous, “I would die for you” declaration.  Only 12 hours and Peter failed at keeping his commitment.  Sometimes we fail to make it past lunch after the Sunday Sermon.

The circumstances are all different, but there are some common elements to our failures.  Fear of an unknown future causes us to divert from our commitments.  What would have happened to Peter if he had told the truth about knowing Jesus?  Would they have arrested him, beat him, or interrogated him?  Not knowing that future response caused Peter to deny Jesus.  Can you tell when you are fearful about not knowing the future.  When you boss ask if you performed a task that you have not completed when you told him you would…what do you say?  When your spouse ask if you made a deposit, do you make an excuse?  Not knowing how a person is going to respond causes fear to rise up and we do stupid things.  Are you sensitive to how fear affects your thinking?  Later Peter learned to trust God for his future, no matter what the outcome may be.

Second, there is a plea for “excused by ignorance”.  Peter’s first response to the servant girl, was “I don’t even know what you are talking about”.  There are times when we legitimately do not know what is expected.  But most of the time, ignorance is used as an excuse for negligence or out right rejection of doing what was expected.  Listen to your first response when questioned about actions.  If it sounds like you are parsing the letter of the law…you probably need to fess up.  Did you clean your room?  I made the bed. Did you clean all of the room? Oh, I didn’t know you wanted the whole room clean.  Learn to hear if you are using this type of defense mechanism.  Telling the truth is freedom.

Finally, Peter changed the focus of the question about knowing Jesus to a focus on himself.  He swore and cursed himself.  This is a ditch that is very easy to fall into.  When someone addresses your actions, you reply that…you always mess up, you’ve never been good enough, you are smart enough, not spiritual enough, don’t have abilities like others, or that you didn’t have the proper upbringing.  You are hoping that this deflection will lessen the impact that you failed to do what was expected.  Listen to yourself, are you using deflecting language?

 A simple response of admission is usually all that is needed.  Peter could have said, “Yes, I know him.”  Likewise, we need to let our Yes be Yes and our No should be No.

Father, help us to trust you for our future…a future that encompasses our failures and is smothered in forgiveness…a future that reveals our total dependence on you…a future that lets us make commitments and fulfill them…a future in which lying, denying and deception a rare.  Help us Oh God because we are so needy and don’t see it most of the time.  In Jesus name, Amen.