From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples 
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things 
at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, 
and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 
“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!
~ Matthew 16:21,22

As sincere as Peter was, though he knew Jesus so very well, Peter’s “will” wasn’t the will of God. If it had been, I would be dead in my sins…stuck in my own slime pit, trying to claw my way to God.

He had walked with the Master–his Friend, Teacher, and Confidant.

Did Peter sense the shroud of darkness descending?

There would be no place of honor on the right and the left of Jesus anytime soon.

Victory songs and celebratory cheers would have to wait. Palm Sunday was great, but that now seemed like a lifetime ago. What was ahead?

The end of this season of the disciples’ lives was imminent. Was there a sense of failure? Of waiting? Of foreboding? Of anticipation?

While their own desires wouldn’t be realized, they stood on the cusp of something far greater. 

Did they fathom just how far-reaching the plan of God was?

Sometimes I hold fast to my own will…it seems so godly….as if it were birthed in heaven itself, steeped in Scripture. Bible verses support my stand, my way of thinking. I boldly take a stand for the Lord by declaring “Thus saith the Lord” about ______________ (whatever it may be).

What if I have missed the point? What if, like Peter, my will actually runs counter to a greater plan of God’s?

The cross demonstrates as nothing else that God’s will might be so very counter-intuitive. It didn’t “make sense.” How could anything good come of a righteous man dying the shameful death of a criminal on a Roman cross?

How indeed.

What am I clinging to today that may be counter to God’s plan? What must I relinquish in order to experience a far greater plan?  It may mean darkness, unanswered questions, a long wait. But is it possible it will be worth it? That I should open my mind to the possibility that I am…dare I say it…wrong?