10 December | Youth
«Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.» 1 Peter 5:6
I heard the story of a young Scottish pastor who was very proud. He was invited to speak to a large crowd. He climbed the steps to the pulpit with his shoulders thrown back and his chest puffed out. He was feeling extremely confident, looking proud. As he began to preach, however, the young preacher inexplicably lost his concentration. His thoughts did not flow. He stuttered and could not recover. After about ten minutes of complete embarrassment, he decided to stop.
He closed his Bible and walked down the steps dejectedly, his shoulders slumped and his head bowed in humiliation. As he walked down the side aisle of the church, a Scottish lady took hold of his coat: “Young man,” she said, “if you had gone up to the pulpit the way you came down from it, you would have come down the way you went up.”
Perhaps no biblical writer understood humiliation as much as Peter. The Bible reports some lessons that he had to learn the hard way. He was always the first to speak in any and all situations. The lists of disciples in the Scriptures have his name first. He is mentioned 200 times in the gospels, while John is mentioned on only 31 occasions. He was the natural leader of the twelve, probably also because he was the oldest. Jesus performed eight miracles on his behalf: the two miraculous catches of fish, healing his mother-in-law, walking on water, healing of Malchus's ear, the two releases from prison and the coin in the fish's mouth.
Peter could expect nothing less from himself than loyalty and bravery to Christ. Therefore, he had no hesitation in saying that he would continue for the Lord to the end. Jesus warned him how unfounded this promise was, but he did not take the warning very seriously.
Later on, Peter shamefully denied the Master. However, on the same night, he recognized that he had failed the test. He was not as good as he thought. Humiliated, he left the high priest's house and wept bitterly. His cry is proof that he wanted to be better. Sometimes God makes the rooster crow in our ears to reduce our illusions to dust. However, when He humbles us, He wants to lift us up.