Calling & Purpose

A hard week isn’t a verdict on who you are

By Annessa Leigh, RN

You know the kind of week I mean. You lost your patience more than once, the plans you made on Sunday didn’t survive Tuesday, and you went to bed most nights feeling like you’d let somebody down. By Friday, a quiet voice starts drawing conclusions: I’m not cut out for this. I keep messing it up. Maybe I’m just not that kind of woman.

A hard week can feel like a verdict on who you are. I want to show you, through one of the most famous failures in the Bible, why it isn’t.

Peter, the friend who talked first and thought later

Peter was a fisherman from a town on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called him to follow. He became one of Jesus’ closest friends and was part of the inner circle that saw some of the most amazing moments of Jesus’ life. Peter was bold, loyal, and passionate. He was also the guy who said whatever popped into his head. He once stepped out of a boat to walk on the water toward Jesus, did great for a few steps, then noticed the waves and started to sink. That’s Peter in a nutshell: all in, sometimes before he’d thought it through.

The night before Jesus was crucified, Peter promised that he would never abandon Him, even if it meant dying. Jesus gently told him that before the rooster crowed the next morning, Peter would deny even knowing Him three times.

That’s exactly what happened. While Jesus was being questioned by the religious leaders, Peter stood outside in a courtyard warming himself by a fire. Three different times, people recognized him as one of Jesus’ followers, and three times he swore he didn’t know Him. Then the rooster crowed:

“At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: ‘Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.’ And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.”

— Luke 22:61–62, NLT

That wasn’t a bad week. That was the worst night of Peter’s life, and he’d failed at the exact thing he’d promised he would never do.

Breakfast on the beach

After Jesus died and rose again, He appeared to His friends several times. One of those stories is told by John, another fisherman and one of the twelve disciples. John and his brother James were nicknamed the “Sons of Thunder,” which tells you something about their tempers. (This is a different James from Jesus’ brother.) In his book, John refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved,” so he clearly wasn’t worried about modesty.

John tells us that Peter, not knowing what else to do, went back to fishing. He and a few others fished all night and caught nothing. At sunrise, a man on the shore called out to them, and they realized it was Jesus. When they got to the beach, He already had a fire going, with fish cooking and bread ready. He had made them breakfast.

After they ate, Jesus turned to Peter and asked him, three separate times, whether Peter loved Him, one question for each time Peter had denied Him:

“A third time he asked him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Then feed my sheep.’”

— John 21:17, NLT

Jesus didn’t bring up the courtyard to shame him. He gave Peter a chance to say “I love you” as many times as he’d said “I don’t know Him.” Then, instead of benching him, Jesus handed Peter a job: take care of My people. Peter went on to become one of the boldest leaders of the early church.

His worst failure didn’t cancel his calling. Jesus met him right in the middle of it and invited him back.

Getting up again

King Solomon, who was known for his wisdom, collected a lot of practical sayings in the book of Proverbs. One of them fits right here:

“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.”

— Proverbs 24:16, NLT

Notice that it doesn’t say godly people never trip. It assumes they will, more than once. What makes the difference is that they get back up. Tripping is part of the walk. It isn’t the end of it.

What a hard week can actually tell you

In the ANCHOR Method, this is what I call Reinforce: knowing where to return when life knocks you off balance. A hard week can be useful, if you look at it with curiosity instead of condemnation. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Describe it without a verdict. Instead of “I’m a mess,” try “I was short with the kids three nights this week.” One is a statement about your worth. The other is just what happened.
• Look for where the support was thin. Were you running on too little sleep? Did you skip the things that usually steady you? A hard week often points to a spot that needs a little more reinforcement.
• Go back to one simple anchor. You don’t have to rebuild your whole life on Saturday. Return to one thing that helps you feel close to God, even if it’s just five quiet minutes.
• Let someone in. Peter didn’t fix things alone on that beach. Tell a friend you had a rough week. You might be surprised how quickly “me too” makes it lighter.

The way back is always open

Peter probably thought there was no coming back from that night in the courtyard. He couldn’t see any way forward, so he went back to the only thing he knew. But Jesus came looking for him, built a fire, made breakfast, and called him by name.

He does the same with us. You may not be able to see Him on the shore after a hard week, but He hasn’t gone anywhere, and He isn’t waiting for you to earn your way back.

Annessa