Listen for the Rooster
I went on a field trip last week with the youth group boys and we had to catch the early plane out of Cincinnati, Ohio to come home. That meant that we had to be out of our hotel room by 4:00 in the morning, which meant that we had to get up by 3:30. We were not sure that we could trust ourselves to wake up at that time all on our own, so we made sure to set four cell phone alarms and the digital alarm in the hotel room to various times between 3:30 and 3:37. You can probably predict what happened. None of us could fall asleep that night and at least one of us happened to be tossing uncomfortably out of bed at 3:25. So, we did not need the reminders in the morning. But considering the cost of plane tickets, it was nice to have them available!
Throughout most of the history of the world, before airplanes were invented and before cell phones were ever dreamed of, roosters filled that role of reminding mankind that it was morning. Even though man is fully equipped to wake himself up and get going, sometimes he needs a reminder of the obvious, that God, not man, brings on the morning.
To be blunt, we all need those obvious reminders from time to time. We often get caught up in the challenges of our business and our personal affairs that we need a simple reminder to bring us back down to God’s world, a reminder to reconsider who we are in light of the Almighty God.
This is what happened to Peter that fateful night that Jesus was arrested and tried before the high priest. Peter followed along after Jesus’ arrest in the garden, intending to be present, strong, and useful in this most pressing time of Jesus’ ministry. Even though Peter was warned that Satan was about to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31) and even though Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times (Luke 22:34), Peter still intended to rely upon himself in Jesus’ time of need. It is ironic that Peter would not listen to Jesus, but he would listen to the voice of the rooster, reminding him of what was so obvious. Peter was not present. He deserted his Master. Peter was not strong. He was timid and weak. Peter was not useful. He was useless. How fitting it was that Jesus would send a rooster to remind Peter of the obvious. Jesus did not need Peter, but Peter needed Jesus.
Look at your own life. What challenge does God have that requires you to dig down deep and rely on your skills, education, talents, and strength to solve it? Is this even possible, for us to solve God’s problems? Perhaps we are being like Peter. Obviously, God’s challenges need more of Jesus and less of us. Listen for the rooster. He has an obvious reminder for all of us.
“Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:61-62