A huge ship was on its way to dock at the seaport when the captain of the ship spotted a light in the dark, at a distance and immediately instructed his assistant to send a signal to them to alter their course 10 degrees North. He receives a reply ‘Alter your course 10 degrees South’. The captain is irritated to hear it and sends out a signal again, ‘Alter your course 10 degrees North’ They reply again, ‘No, you alter your course 10 degrees South. This time the captain is quite angry and sends a signal ‘This is the captain. Alter your course 10 degrees north’. The reply comes, ‘Alter your course 10 degrees south, I am a seaman third-class’. Now the Captain is furious and sends out signal one last time, ‘Alter your course 10 degrees north, I am a better ship’ The reply comes from the other side ‘Alter your course 10 degrees south, I am the Lighthouse.
This is our situation many times in life, where instead of taking direction and guidance from Jesus, our light house, in foolishness and ignorance we try to chart our own course in life. We often like to plan and execute our lives without interference from God and accommodating him in convenient spaces of our life where He does not need to interfere with our own grand designs for our lives. We look to God only with a list of requests and sincerely praying and hoping that he will provide all that we wish to receive at the time we wish to receive them. There is a choice of churches today where our carnality and greed are justified and encouraged by a selective reading and professing of the Word of God.
As we continue to live in dangerous times of cosmetic Christianity, we prefer churches which do not compel us to change our course in life. The kind which does not actually need us to change from within but rather content with appearing religious on the outside. Which do not require us to know the heart of God but rather content and satisfied as long as God is fulfilling our heart desires at our desired time. We claim, declare, confess our wishes and desires, boldly and vocally, citing many selective passages from the scriptures, yet not sparing a single thought to the portions that require us to change our direction or take instruction.
Allow me to draw your attention to the state of mind of Apostle Peter, a loving disciple of Jesus Christ and his resounding confession that Jesus is the Messiah in Mark’s gospel chapter 8:29. He was a much-loved disciple of the Lord, a bit hasty, very bold and outspoken. He was a firsthand witness of all that Jesus was and all that Jesus did during His ministry on Earth. Peter was privileged to live with Jesus, eat with Him and spend every waking moment with the Lord Himself. So, when peter declares his reverberating confession of Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus delights in His proclamation and commends Peter in Matthew 16:17,18 that he is blessed, and this revelation has been given to him not by flesh and blood but only our Father in heaven. He goes on to profess that Peter is going to be the Rock on which He will build the Church.
But what follows soon after is an illustration of how weak we are and how quickly we falter, when peter allowed himself to be carried away in the moment. As Jesus began to reveal to His disciples what is going to happen next and how He is going to suffer many things and be raised on the third day, our dear Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke Him. But Jesus turns to Peter and rebukes him saying ‘Get behind me, Satan’. This Journey from Peters grand confession of Jesus as Messiah, being complimented by Jesus for the same, to rebuking Jesus and trying to be hindrance to the divine redemptive plan and being rebuked by Jesus ‘Get behind me Satan’ which happened too quickly, teaches us a great lesson.
Peter might have faltered here in thinking that he knows more than Jesus. He might have wanted to save Jesus from the suffering and pain. He was following the guidance and instincts of his own heart and mind. He started believing they were right. To the extent that he thought he can guide God himself and not be guided by God. In his eagerness to do good for the Lord, he let himself out of the plan of God. This incident illustrates to us the danger of being with God, doing His work and yet completely missing the mission of the Lord. In being caught up with our own plans for Gods work or plans for our own lives, we often miss out on the Divine plan and may even end up a hindrance to Gods divine plan for our lives.
Each Sunday when we attend church services, we come back home elated, lifted and continue to live our lives exactly the way we had lived all the weeks before and in anticipation of receiving the many things that we had been praying for. As weeks turn into months and months into years and years into a lifetime at a greater speed than ever, It is time for us to stop and turn to God, to wait on Him and seek Him for direction and guidance, to seek and invite His participation in our decisions and desires, lest one day we soon have to look back to a regretful and wasted opportunities. For the moment we turn our eyes away from Jesus, we stand the danger of faltering and falling away. May the Lord give us His grace each day and each time to always turn our eyes to Jesus, our guide, our lighthouse!
