Luke 22:54-62 (ESV)

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

All the other disciples skedaddled when the cops showed up, but Peter was following at a distance. He might have run too, but Jesus had challenged him to fulfill his claim, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”

Of course, the reason he was following at a distance, is that he didn’t want to be identified. He wanted to see what was going on, but he didn’t want to be part of what’s going on. Now he’s in a courtyard with lots of people and someone builds a campfire. Peter makes the tactical error of sitting near the fire. It’s no longer pitch black where his is.

Peter’s face hasn’t exactly been on a wanted poster, but lots of people have seen him because lots of people have been following Jesus. In the light of the fire, a few folks recognize him. His plan to just blend in and keep an eye on things starts to unravel.

But notice exactly what Peter does wrong here. Yes there’s a failure of courage, but at the detail level Peter’s mistake is to cling to his plan. This is the classic Christian failing, one I’ve experienced many times.

I think I know what I should do. I start doing it. God slams a door in my face so hard it almost breaks my nose. But I’m so immersed in the details of what I’m doing that I just focus on how to overcome the setbacks. So, I stay the course.

If Peter had just had the presence of mind to think about what was going on all around him, he would have recognized the spiritual tests involved and acted accordingly. Unfortunately, the urgency of responding to the accusations left him no time for introspection.

One of the great challenges we face is to discern God’s will and to make our plans conform. Thus, the most important thing we can do with prayer is to draw closer to God – to seek His face.

We need to focus on our personal relationship with the Lord. Ask Him to reveal Himself and His will to you. Ask God to speak – and commit to listening. (Note: this is figurative; God “speaks” in many ways.)

If you want to know Him better, say so.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies