Submitting to others.

Man, does it throw a wrench in a girl’s plans.

My husband changed Write Nite on me. . . with good cause – we are saying good bye to Teri and Brian tomorrow night (check out my blog from last month titled, “Go West” for the full story).

I kinda wish he didn’t change it so that I could avoid the good-bye.

I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest knowing that they will be so far away and part of me wants to say, “Don’t go. Stay in Minnesota, blizzards in April are fun. No, really they are.”

I’m actually thinking maybe I should come up with some scenerios to stall their plans like, pulling the spark plugs out of their car when they aren’t looking or siphoning the gas out of their gas tank.

But the other part of me, the less selfish part says, “Go.  Go do the amazing things that God has planned for you in Idaho.”

I can understand Peter when he told Jesus he didn’t really need to die on the cross, because that selfish part of him wanted him to stay.  But Jesus, knowing that all of humanity was resting on his obedience, had this to say.

Matthew 16:23 (NLT)

 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Harsh.

But the truth is, Jesus wasn’t really talking to Peter.  He was talking to Satan.

Do I think Peter was possessed by Satan?

No.

So what did Jesus mean when he said, “Get away from me, Satan!”?

I think Jesus, discerning the source of the words was taking a stand saying, I will not be dissuaded from following what God has asked of me.

The words coming out of Peter’s mouth were based out of fear and selfishness, but it looked like some really good wisdom.  It sounded like it could have been mistaken for faith –

Peter: Naw Jesus, no way could death happen to you.  I’ve seen you heal the sick and cast out demons.  I was even there when you raised Lazurus from the dead.  I’ve finally gotten to the place where I have the faith to see you as the Son of God.  You don’t have to go the cross and die.

Jesus stunned Peter back into a reality God had set up long before Peter was around.

This was the very reason that Jesus came.

To die so that we could live.

And the words coming out of Peter’s mouth were trying to convince Jesus of the opposite.

I think we all have those moments when we will fight the urge to say, “stay” when in our hearts we know what we should be saying is “go”.

We will undoubtedly have those moments to choose whether we will be like Peter.  Do we speak faith into another person’s God given dream or do we hold them back with our questions and concerns?

And we will also have moments to choose whether or not we will be like Jesus.  Some of us will have those who have the grace to let us go with their love and support into the great unknown – it could be anything from trusting God while you start a new business or taking a season to wait on God until he shows you what’s next.  Some of us will have those who are afraid to let us go, and we will have to decide whether we follow God into the greatest adventures of our lives or whether we pull back and stay where it’s comfortable.

I might be a hot mess as I say good-bye tomorrow but I want to be able to say I was able to let Teri and Brian go with grace – even if it’s sloppy, boogery type of grace.