Ever wanted to know God's secret will for your life?
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| Matthias Stom's depiction of Jesus before Caiaphas at night based on Mark 14 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (John 21:22).
Jesus had just finished restoring Peter to the office of an apostle and giving him the charge to minister to His church and to follow Him, even in death. Peter, having accepted his Lord’s call, turns and notices that John (the disciple “whom Jesus loved”) was following close behind. It is not strange that John was following Peter; the two were often together. They were together when Jesus was taken before Caiaphas, and they were together at the empty tomb.
Being an intimate friend, Peter naturally would be deeply concerned about John’s future. Just a moment earlier, Jesus had predicted how Peter would die in his Lord’s footsteps. Would the same thing happen to John? Would his friend be with him in that death? Peter wanted to know.
While Peter’s concern is commendable, Jesus knew what Peter really needed to hear. The impulsive apostle needed to stay focused. He could not let curiosity about John’s future distract or take away from his own obedience to the Lord’s all-important command to follow Him and feed His sheep. Peter was tempted to do what most of us have done at one point or another; he was tempted to be more interested in God’s secret will (concerning John) than in God’s revealed will (concerning Peter).
Too often we become distracted by concerns that are none of our business. We want to know God’s will in this matter or that, in things that He has not revealed to us. We tend to pay less attention to what God has actually revealed, to what has been clearly manifest in His Word, and more attention to those things that remain hidden. One example of this might be found in our excuse of not telling someone the Gospel because we don’t know if God has chosen that person to be saved. We want to pry open the secret things of God regarding election before we obey His direct command to preach the Gospel to all nations.
Let us always remember that the secret things belong to the Lord. We are simply to obey what He has commanded and leave the rest to Him.
Are you ever guilty of failing to do what you should do, or at least putting it off, because you want to know God’s secret will in a matter? Meditate on the verses below, especially Deuteronomy 29:29. Think about how they apply to you personally. Beginning today, commit to leaving the secret things to God.
