We have been looking at the arrest of Jesus in the garden.  Every gospel records the ear of the High Priest’s servant being cut off but interestingly only the book of John gives us the names of the servant and Peter as the sword swing culprit!  This is not the first time compulsive Peter has taken things into his own hands, but it certainly was the most dangerous and violent! 

But really Peter’s whole approach to Christ’s capture and death was very wrong!  He had been fighting the will of God long before he gave a swing at the head of Malchus!  Earlier that night he had been sleeping instead of praying, talking instead of listening, boasting instead of fearing, arguing instead of learning, rebelling instead of submitting, and now fighting instead of running!  Here we see Peter at war with the wrong enemy with the wrong weapon!  Even when Jesus was actively surrendering, Peter was staging an attack!   In all of this, I think of the old hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”.  Peter was certainly standing up for Jesus in this incident, but like the third verse of the song says “the arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own:” In every aspect Peter was trusting his mind, his heart, his motives……his flesh!  Peter was not obeying Christ; he was not walking in faith; he was not Christ-like!   Jesus had made His plan for the disciples very plan, He even controlled the arresting crowd by telling them to let the disciples go, yet Peter would have nothing to do with it! 

But let’s not get too hard on young Peter!  Can’t we easily do the same thing?  Push ahead, connive, plan, maneuver, and drive our lives right pass the will of God!?  And in the end, like Peter, we will get the wrong result!  We are not capable of running our lives apart from God.  Jer. 10:23 “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”   We need the hand of God to guide us.  The familiar verses, Prov. 3:5-7, give us an outline to follow the guidance of God.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart form evil.” 

So many times we learn these verses as children, have them preached to us as teens, but let’s make sure we apply them to us as adults! 

1. Trust the Lord – (v.5) Rely on, depend on, have faith in God   We say we trust God for providing our salvation but for directing and leading our lives we take over.  We act like this is our life to direct and forget the words of Paul in I Cor. 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”  (Italics mine)  We are bought with the price of the blood of Jesus, therefore we need to be glorifying God both in body and attitude.  We must depend on Him for our daily lives, seek Him for our future, and trust His perfect plan for the winding road of our past! 
2. Don’t lean on your own thinking – (v.5) Prov. 28:26 “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” Devising your own life plan is a fooling act!  A wise person walks after God, seeks God’s best, and patiently waits for God’s direction.  Listen to Ps. 37:3-7 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou salt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to past.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prosperity in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”   Our thinking is flawed, God’s thinking is perfect.  Go with God!
3. Seek God for all your plans – (v.6) Jesus taught in His model prayer, often called The Lord’s Prayer, to pray this way, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”  Staying within God’s will should be our deepest, heart’s desire; even as we saw Jesus pray in the garden, “not my will but thine be done”, this should be our consent prayer.   We must “acknowledge” God in all our ways, meaning, know God, seek Him, and then shall He be able to guide your steps! 
4. Walk with God – (v.7) Peter might have been in the presence of Jesus, but he certainly was not walking in step with Jesus! But when we are quick to live a life pleasing to God we will be in tune to His desires for us.  Walk with God and you will be in step with Him!  Psalm 37:23  “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

Like Peter, we may not always understand God’s plans for our lives; many things may be difficult and hard.  But remember the last verse of “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”, “To Him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; He with the King of Glory, shall reign eternally.”  Our life is but a short time of tribulations, and trials, but eternity is forever!  Let’s commit not to take things into our own hands but to be a wise person walking after God, seeking God’s best, and patiently waiting for God’s direction.