“As For You, Follow Me.”

Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”

Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” John 21:21-22, NLT

BREAKFAST IN THE Seiffert household is nothing short of a three-ring circus. We are bumping into one another, balancing our eggs and cheese, with our cereal and milk, with our tea and honey. And without fail, each day ends with crumbs, puddles, and cereal shrapnel littering the breakfast bar and floor.

One morning, the kids were still cleaning up the trails they made when my oldest asked if he could go play.

“After you finish your chores, then you are free to play,” I answered.

“Well then, everyone can’t play until they finish their chores, right?” he replied.

Sigh. This reaction comes at us all the time, doesn’t it? And it’s not just from our children. I do it. You do it. We all grab for the measuring stick and want to make sure fair is fair—that portions are doled out evenly.

But for our own good, Jesus has thrown out the measuring stick, and we see this played out in a conversation he has with His disciple Peter.

Before Jesus was crucified, Peter had denied knowing Him three times. But after the Resurrection, Jesus made a point to purposely restore and redeem Peter’s denial. Jesus appeared to Peter and asked him three times if he loved Him. And three times Peter was given the chance to declare his allegiance. What a tender, truthful conversation and restoration.

And though Jesus personally redeems Peter’s past, this same conversation includes Jesus foretelling the pain and suffering Peter would face in his future. And Peter grabs for a measuring stick.

He wants to know if another disciple whom the text says “Jesus loved” will have the same future. Would he have to swallow the same hard pill? Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

Jesus is calling Peter to deny the need to know everyone else’s path and to trust Him. Isn’t that always the call? Trust Jesus.

If we believe God is good, kind, and just, then we can trust Him and keep our eyes focused on Him. But if we pull out the measuring stick, we are showing our cards: We don’t trust the situation. We don’t trust our assignment. We don’t trust God.

In the moment I had with my son, I answered him with similar words. He didn’t need to worry about how everything would play out for the others. He didn’t need to carry that load. I wanted him to be free, to focus on me, and to enjoy our relationship.

Sister, let’s carry each other’s loads, be intimately involved in each other’s lives, and trust Jesus to be God. But let’s not demand fairness or measure what God is doing in our life against what He is doing in another’s. What God is doing is not our business. Our job is to follow Jesus. To do the work He has given us to do.

In my kitchen that morning I wanted my children to practice measuring out cups of grace to one another, not use measuring sticks against one another. Let’s do the same.

GRACE REFLECTION: How does Jesus’ interaction with Peter make you feel? Encouraged? Taken aback? What measuring sticks have you pulled out recently, and what is God saying to you about them?