And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:62)
My foot was in absolute agony. In frustration, I ignored it, walked on it, and tried not to cry when it kept me up at night. But in my frustration, the one thing I refused to do was listen to what the pain was telling me. I refused to ice and elevate my foot. I refused to give it the rest it needed and clean the wound to avoid infection. I refused to listen to what the pain was telling me.
This lasted about a week before I decided to seek out ways to fix the problem. I paid attention to the pain. I elevated and iced my foot. I rested more than I had before. I was careful to guard against infection. I had to let my foot be in pain to let it heal.
After Peter realized the weight of his failure to stand by Jesus in his darkest hour, he gave the brokenness of his failure a voice. That moment is when the process of healing began. He felt the conviction, pain, and sadness of what he had done, and he chose not to ignore or stifle it. Peter wept bitterly. He began his return from failure. It is impossible to seek out redemption and restoration for a failure or hurt that we refuse to acknowledge and address.
Look for areas of life where you are ignoring conviction or hurt.
Grace Aukerman is a third-year Kingswood University student from Albania who loves coffee and her dog.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
