John 21:21-22 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
God wants to take you places that He has no plans of taking anyone else! And yet, you ask of another, “What shall this man do?” Why is it that we are so much more curious about what God is doing with others than what He is doing with us? It seems to be the worst trait of human nature to feel as of someone else always gets the better end of the deal.
It would do us well to learn the singular focus that Christ is commanding Peter to adopt. “Follow thou me!” Essentially, Jesus is telling Peter that what He does with other disciples is none of his concern. And isn’t it just like the tempter to cause us to get distracted with what God is doing “over there” to the degree that we at best fail to see, and at worst neglect what God is doing “right here”!
Dear friends, it does us no good to concern ourselves in matters which are not our own. If we must be curious, let us be curious about the work that God is doing right here and right now with us. Let us not so compare ourselves with one another that we get tripped up in the “that’s not fair” syndrome.
Surely you know what I am talking about. Somehow, we get the notion that if we had what someone else had, then we’d be better off. We think that because our ministry looks different than another ministry, we must be sub-par or inferior to the ministry we so envy.
And yet, Jesus reminds us that what He has for us IS FOR US. Not only was Jesus’ ministry with John none of Peter’s business, but Jesus’ ministry with Peter was none of John’s business. Each disciple must follow the path that Jesus has FOR HIM. PERIOD!
Think of it this way; There was only one that killed Goliath, and that was David. There was only one that liberated Israel from Egypt, and that was Moses. There was only one that gave birth as a virgin for the Messiah, and that was Mary. You get the idea. Every child of God must discover and pursue the path that God has uniquely designed and prepared specifically for them, and in each instance, it has its own fingerprint like none other. Today, let us choose to walk only in the path chosen for us.
Pastor Gary Caudill