Maybe you said to Him, “Lord that’s it I’m going to quit smoking or drinking or looking at pornography.”

Or maybe you said, “Lord, things are going to be different between us, I’m going to start getting up earlier so I can spend some time with You in prayer before I start my day.”

Or “I’m going to stop watching so much T.V. and spend that time in the Word.”

Or maybe you purposed to start being more of a verbal and visible witness for the Lord at work or some other place.

If you’ve ever promised the Lord things were going to be different, you were going to make some changes, you were going to be more committed—only to fail and feel the guilt that comes from failing the Lord—then you know how Simon Peter felt.

You see in the upper room, the night before Jesus was crucified as He and His disciples were observing the Passover together. Jesus told them—

Now I believe that Peter was sincere, I believe with all of his heart he meant to keep that promise to his Lord—his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak.  That’s the problem with making God promises, no matter how well intentioned they are—you’re putting confidence in your own strength instead of relying on His strength.

You can’t use the flesh to conquer the flesh—only the Holy Spirit can give victory over the flesh!

And yet Peter promised the Lord that his love and commitment to Him was stronger than the other disciples so that even though they failed the Lord, Peter assured Jesus, “I will never fail You! You can count on me Lord, I won’t let you down.”  However nine or ten hours after Peter made that promise Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and was put on trial by the Sanhedrin in the home of Caiaphas the High Priest.  Peter was out in the court yard of Caiaphas’s house, warming himself by the fire and waiting to see what was going to happen to Jesus.  It was while he was there that three times he was accused of being one of Jesus’ disciples and three times he denied even knowing Jesus.

Now Luke tells us something about that scene that no other gospel writer records.

Luke tells us that immediately after Peter denied the Lord for the third time that Jesus, from where He was standing in Caiaphas’s house, turned and looked at Peter. What kind of a look did Jesus give Peter? We’re not told, we’re left to speculate.

1. Was it a look of anger?

There are a lot of Christians who think that when they fail, God is angry with them.

Maybe it stems from having an earthly father, who was hard on them, a father they could never please, who never acknowledged their accomplishments but only condemned them for their failures.  And so now when they fail as a Christian they imagine their heavenly Father saying, in their earthly father’s voice—“I told you, you were no good! You’re nothing but a failure, you’ll always be a failure, and I’m sick and tired of putting up with you now get out of my sight!”

2. Was it a look of disappointment?

There are many Christians who, when they fail think they have let God down and have disappointed Him.  They hear the voice of God whispering in their ears, “I never thought you’d let Me down like this, I really expected more from you, you’ve really disappointed Me.”  This produces an incredible amount of guilt and shame which causes them to ‘run and hide’ from God as Adam did in the Garden.

3. Maybe Jesus gave Peter a look of sadness.

Often we feel that our failures cause God to look at us with the kind of sad look that one would give to a person who is a lost cause. That the Lord is looking at us, shaking His head like we would look at some sad, pathetic loser who, no matter how many chances he is given, always blows it and will never amount to anything in life. Of course that causes a person to feel like it’s no use trying anymore, “I’ll never amount to anything so I’m just going to give up”.

Let me ask you—what kind of look do you think Jesus gave Peter?

I’ll say this to you—the look you think Jesus gave Peter in the light of his failure reveals how you think Jesus looks at you when you fail as a Christian.

a) First of all I don’t believe that Jesus looked at Peter with a look of anger.

The Bible teaches that God’s anger is reserved for those living in rebellion and not for those who try to live for Him but sometimes fail.

b) I also don’t believe that Jesus looked at Peter with a look of disappointment.

You see for God to be ‘disappointed’ with us it means that our actions took Him by surprise—that we acted in a way He didn’t expect. However that is impossible for God Who has all knowledge and knew every sin we were going to commit before He ever made us.

We know that Peter’s denial of Jesus didn’t catch the Lord off guard and disappoint Him because when Peter promised the Lord he would never be stumbled because of Him Jesus told Peter before the night was out he was going to deny Him three times. I believe Jesus told Peter this in advance, not only to warn him not to put his trust in his own strength but also to prepare him, to soften the blow of his failure by teaching Peter and all of us that our sins never surprise or disappoint God—grieve Him yes, surprise Him no.

c) And finally, I don’t think that Jesus gave Peter a look of sadness—the kind of look we might give a person who was a lost cause, a hopeless loser.

The kind of person we often feel like for blowing it as much as we do—which causes us to say, “Lord, I’m hopeless, I’ll never amount to anything as a Christian—why don’t You just give up on me I’ve given up on myself.”  

Forgetting that Paul wrote to the Philippians, “…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”(Phil.1:6)

“Okay” you say, “what kind of look, pastor, do you think Jesus gave Peter?”

I personally believe it was a look of loving compassion—the kind of look a parent would give a child who is learning to walk but keeps falling.

Look, God loves you, He is not angry with you. He is not up in heaven condemning you for your failures. He knew all the times you were going to fail before He ever created you and He still wanted you to be His child. He’s not going to condemn you now that you are His child because you’re weak and sometimes fail and fall in your walk with Him.

Paul the apostle made this clear in Romans 8 when he asked the question, “Why would God condemn the very people He sent His Son Jesus to die for—those who are now His children?”

Look, God knows our weaknesses. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He isn’t putting any confidence in our strength.

In Psalm 103 the psalmist said, 

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy…¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; ¹² As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. ¹⁴ For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”  Psalm 103:8-14 (NKJV)

God knows that we are weak and prone to failure. He is not condemning us for our failures as His children because He uses them to teach us how to walk with Him better in the future.

“I went to the throne with a trembling heart the day was done. ‘Have you a new day for me dear Master I’ve spoiled this one?’ He took my day all spoiled and blotted and gave me a new one all unspotted and into my tired heart He cried, ‘Do better now My child.’”

Let me close with a true story about a little boy named William.

William is a pastor’s son who, at the time of this story, was about 7 years old. It seems that William was a rambunctious little boy who often pushed the patience of his teachers.

One Sunday while driving home from church William, who was unusually quiet, suddenly blurted out, “Dad, is God watching me?”

William’s father knew something was behind that question and so he asked, “Why do you ask me that William?  Did someone tell you God is watching you?”

William responded in a sheepish tone, “My Sunday school teacher told me God was watching me—but is it true dad? Is God really watching me?”

William’s father probed deeper, “Why did your Sunday school teacher tell you God was watching you William?”

“Well, because, I was kinda acting up in class—but is it true dad? Is God watching me!?”

Now this pastor knew that the way he answered that question had the potential to shape William’s concept of God for many years to come. So he prayed quickly for wisdom and then said to his son, “Yes William it’s true, God is watching you—He’s watching you because He loves you so much He can’t take His eyes off of you!”

And the same is true for all of God’s children—God is watching you.

He’s watching you, not because He’s angry with you or disappointed in you or disgusted because you fail.

He’s watching you because He loves you so much He can’t take His eyes off of you!

And like any parent, He wants what’s best for you and so He patiently keeps watching over you, protecting and guiding you each day.

And when you fall He stands ready to pick you up, dust you off, take you in His arms and whisper in your ears, “I forgive you child, now draw your strength from Me and I’ll teach you how to walk with Me better in the future”.

Listen, if God knew every sin you were going to commit before He created you and He still invited you to be His child—Do you think that now you are His child He’s going to be against you even though you fail from time to time in your walk with Him?

As someone has said to the children of God, “God is not against you for your sin, He is for you against sin!”

Remember you are a work in progress and He who has begun that work will see it all the way through to completion—so be encouraged and draw close to your loving Father in heaven every day for strength.

And maybe one day if someone tells you “God is watching you”, you can say to them, “I know, isn’t it wonderful!”

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil