One of the things I've learned since becoming a Christian is that faith doesn't erase every question. In fact, sometimes it seems like the closer we walk with Christ, the more opportunities we have to choose whether we'll trust Him or trust our fears.

 

Before I came to faith, I always assumed doubt meant something was wrong. I thought strong Christians never questioned God.

 

They never wrestled.

They never wondered why tragedy happened or why prayers sometimes seemed to go

unanswered.

 

But the longer I've read Scripture, the more I've realized that even some of God's greatest

servants wrestled with those same questions.

 

Peter certainly did.

 

This song isn't really about denying Jesus. It's about the fear that slowly leads us there.

Fear rarely shows up all at once. It begins quietly.

 

A difficult diagnosis.

The loss of someone we love.

A marriage falling apart.

A child walking away.

A prayer that seems to go unanswered.

 

In those moments, questions begin creeping into our minds.

 

Is God listening?

Did I do something wrong?

Am I being punished?

Am I not faithful enough?

Does God even care?

 

Those thoughts don't necessarily mean we've rejected God. Sometimes they simply reveal how frightened we are.

 

Peter understood that feeling. Only hours before denying Jesus, he boldly declared,

 

 

                     "Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will." (Matthew 26:33)

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He believed every word. Yet Jesus gently replied,

 

 

                     "Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me                                three times." (Matthew 26:34)

 

Peter couldn't imagine such a thing. Until fear entered the story. Standing beside a borrowed fire, surrounded by uncertainty, Peter denied even knowing the Savior he loved.

Not because he stopped loving Jesus, bcause for a moment, fear became louder than faith.

 

I think many of us know exactly what that feels like. Maybe we've never verbally denied Christ, but we've questioned His goodness.

 

We've wondered why He allowed suffering.

We've doubted His plan.

We've believed the lie that our hardships must mean we've somehow fallen outside His love.

 

I've wrestled with those thoughts myself.

 

During some of the hardest seasons of my life, I found myself asking questions I never expected to ask.

 

Was I being punished?

Had I failed God somehow?

Was I simply not good enough?

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Looking back now, I realize those questions weren't really about God's character.

They were about my fear. Fear has a way of whispering lies that sound convincing in the middle of pain, but Peter's story didn't end with a rooster crowing.

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After the resurrection, Jesus sought Peter out.

 

Not to shame him.

Not to remind him of his failure.

But to restore him.

 

Three times Jesus asked Peter,

 

 

               "Do you love Me?" (John 21:15–17)

 

Three opportunities.

Three restorations.

The same number as Peter's denials.

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Grace met Peter at the exact place where fear had defeated him. That gives me incredible hope. Because every one of us will have moments when fear shakes our faith.

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We'll ask difficult questions.

We'll struggle to understand God's plan.

We'll wonder if we're enough.

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The good news is that our moments of weakness do not have the final word.

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God's grace does.

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Before the rooster crowed, Peter failed. After the empty tomb, Peter became one of the boldest leaders the Church has ever known.

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That's the power of grace.

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Our worst moments don't define us.

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Christ's mercy does.