To Whom Shall we Go?
I have come to know that life is a constant cycle of ups and downs; either an uphill battle trying desperately to pull yourself from the valley, or a peaceful and triumphant walk on the mountaintop.
Either way, we must face the one to get the other.
You cannot reach the mountain's top unless you have experienced the troughs of the valley below.
This, of course, does not make the valley any easier.
But when we are faced with unanswerable questions, unavoidable hardships, and certain heartache, where do we turn?
To whom do we go?
Simon Peter asks the same thing in the gospel of John.
In chapter six, we read of how many of Jesus’ disciples began murmuring and arguing against him, saying,
“This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining so he said to them,
“Does this offend you?..... The Spirit alone gives Eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me……”
At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the twelve and asked,
“Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied,
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of Eternal life. We believe, and we know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Many of his disciples deserted Jesus in his three years of ministry simply because they did not understand, or they misunderstood, his mission.
And even today, when we are served with troubles and trials that confuse us, we ask the same questions they did.
“Why this? I just don’t understand. How can I accept this?”
That hard phone call.
That life-altering diagnosis.
That tragic accident.
That moment when everything changes.
We have all faced something along these lines, and we are all always left spinning, just barely holding on as we are cast into a pit of confusion and shock.
We do not understand, and we wonder why God has let this happen. We wonder how anything good can come from this seemingly terrible situation.
But oftentimes, we aren’t meant to understand why bad things happen, or why we had to be the target of it all.
That’s the beauty of faith.
Jesus doesn't always give us all the answers as to why something has happened to us or a loved one, simply because if he did, we would find something hard in his reply and choose not to believe. And even if he did tell us all his plans, then we wouldn’t have much of a need for faith
But it is in the midst of our own questions that we hear Simon Peter’s question arise also.
To whom shall we go?
When the weather turns gray and the troubles come, when you begin to buckle beneath the heavy weight of the ups and downs of life, to whom do you go?
Where do you turn?
In your heartache, in the midst of your inner turmoil and confusion, do you turn to Jesus?
Do you look him in the face, meet his loving gaze and say,
“You have the words of Eternal Life. I believe, and know that you are the Holy One of God. I do not understand this, but I trust you.”
