SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“‘I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’ Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them… When Peter saw him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.’” [John 21:18-22]
Peter hears that he is going to die, and then sees John (the disciple Jesus loved), and asks, ‘what about him?’

Peter has served the Lord with distinction, though he did deny the Lord in the end.
Jesus reaffirms Peter here in John 21, but still Peter will not get the glorious future he wanted [Matthew 19:27].
John on the other hand lived a long life.
Could Moses have been wondering the same thing about Joshua?
He is not going to enter the land, but Joshua is?
In the end, it’s not about ‘what we get’ but about Who we follow?
We are servants of God – He will determine the unfolding purpose of our lives.
Whether we live long or short, whether we live with worldly wealth or poverty, whether we are single or married, whether we live in the wealthy west or in impoverished parts of the world, that is for the Lord to decide.

Moses served the Lord’s purpose.
That purpose did not include entering the land.
Peter served the Lord’s purpose.
That purpose did not include a long, easy life.
We may plead with the Lord for a different lot in life.
We may point to others and say, ‘what about them?’
But the Lord will say to us, ‘what is that to you… You follow me!’
Moses and Peter serve as reminders to us that the Lord’s mission is greater than our temporal ease or happiness.
Both of them inherited an eternal inheritance [1 Peter 1:3-7].
But the outcome of this life was not what they might have wished.

We may not be happy with how the Lord has allotted life to us.
We can grumble, we can plead, we can refuse, we can give up… or we can follow Him, and allow Him to work out His purpose for us.
As Jesus-followers, we admit that our life may not go as we would hope.
But when we surrender to Him and His purpose, our life will go as He intends.
And He will accomplish more through our lives than we could ever ask or imagine!

PRAYER:
Lord, help me not to whine about my life, or envy others. Help me to be the best me that I can be for You, following You on whatever path You provide.