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Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord? |
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He said to him the third time, ’. . . do you love Me?’ —John 21:17 |
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| Have you
ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being,
deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts
pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through
to that part of our being but the Word of God. "Peter was grieved because He
said to him the third time, ’Do you love Me?’ " Yet he was awakened to the
fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And
then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not
the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived
again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for
immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to
realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said,
"Lord, You know all things . . . ." Peter began to see how very much he did
love Jesus, and there was no need to say, "Look at this or that as proof of
my love." Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he
really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus
Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he
did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked.
The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself. Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say |