Why Can’t I Follow Now?

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” —John 13:37

There are times when we can’t do what we want, and we don’t understand why. When this happens, wait. It is God who brings these blank spaces into our lives, and it is God who must fill them. A blank space might come before we are sanctified, to teach us what sanctification means. Or it might come after, to teach us what service means. Whatever the reason, we must not try to fill it on our own. Never run before God’s guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then he is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt, don’t.
Sometimes, we have a clear picture of an outcome God wants for us—the end of a certain friendship or business relationship, for example—but we are not sure about how God wants to accomplish it. If it isn’t clear that God wishes us to act, we must wait. If we act impulsively, on a feeling, we will end up causing difficulties that could take years to put right. Wait for God, and he will accomplish the task without any heartbreak or disappointment.
In John 13, Peter doesn’t want to wait. “I will lay down my life for you,” he declares to Jesus (v. 37). It’s an honest declaration, but an ignorant one: Peter doesn’t know himself as Jesus does. “Jesus answered . . . ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’” (v. 38). The feeling Peter wants to act on, his natural devotion to Jesus, is a good one. But Jesus wants him to act on something else—not devotion but discipleship. He uses the blank space, the “not now,” to discipline Peter and bring about the thing Peter wants in the proper way and at the proper time.
By Oswald Chambers