But
He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men. Matthew 16:23
Sometimes, I’m a Can’t See the Forest for the Trees Christan, letting worldly things
interfere in doing what God calls me to do. In the verses prior to this, Jesus
has just told Peter how he is going to suffer many things, be crucified, and
raised again on the third day, but Peter couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Peter rebuked Jesus and told Him that this shouldn’t
happen to Jesus. The thing is, Jesus always sees the Big Picture. He knew that if
He didn’t die and rise again, we sinful human beings would have no hope for
salvation otherwise.
Sometimes, I get to where I can’t see the forest for
the trees, as well. There are times where I hear God’s gentle tugging at my
heart, but minimize it and go on to do other things that I determine are much
more important. God always sees the Big
Picture, so that thing I may have minimized may have been exactly what God
needed me to do to bring about the outcome He desired.
Here’s a very simplistic example: I felt a tugging
on my heart to sort through my clothes to donate them, but put it off
determining that I should clean my house instead. In this example, someone who
may have needed a particular garment I would have donated wouldn’t have it.
Fortunately for me, Jesus doesn’t say, “Debbie wants
me to take care of her overeating, but I’ve got much more important things to
do first, so I’ll leave it until later.” But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind Me, Satan: thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men. Matthew 16:23
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
