Finding God in AdventSample

God Shows Up After Your Worst Day

Maybe you’re not quite convinced yet.

Maybe you think God showing up is for everyone else but not for you; you’re too broken, too sinful, and too messy for God to want to be around you.

If that’s you, let me tell you about my friend Peter.

Peter is one of Jesus’s disciples—in fact, one of his closest friends. During Jesus’s ministry, the two did everything together and shared some of Jesus’s most memorable moments on earth.

Together they ate meals, shared a home, experienced amazing miracles, and even walked on water.

They were close. Really close. Which is why it’s so confusing when on the day Jesus needed him most, Peter turned his back on him.

Jesus had been arrested and was in the middle of a sham trial when a young girl accused Peter of being one of his followers.

“I don’t know that man” Peter sheepishly replied.

In fact, he denied Christ three times in minutes.

Wait a second—the guy who once told Jesus that he would die for him…that same guy now denies even knowing who Jesus is?

Don’t you think now would be a good time for Jesus to quit? I mean, come on…he pours out his life for these guys for more than three years, and now one of his most loyal followers is claiming he doesn’t even know him.

If Jesus were going to bail on humanity, this would have been a very reasonable time.

But he doesn’t bail.

While Peter is denying even knowing him, Jesus is on his way to being falsely accused, tortured, condemned, and eventually nailed on a cross to die. The last time the two interact before Jesus dies, Peter claims he doesn’t know his best friend.

This is a bad day for Peter. Probably the worst day of his life.

Peter, likely depressed, gives up on ministry after that night and goes back to what he knows best—fishing.

But Jesus doesn’t give up on Peter. Instead, he shows up. In fact, he cooks breakfast for him.

You can’t make this stuff up. Peter, after denying that he knows his friend Jesus, now finds him on the shores of the lake, cooking Peter breakfast and calling him back into ministry.

Because this is who God is. He is a God who always shows up for broken people on their worst day.

This year, as you open presents, drink hot chocolate, and sing your favorite Christmas songs, pause to reflect on how good Jesus has been to you. Remember that even on the worst day of your story, he keeps showing up. That’s what the God of the Bible does—he always shows up.