God knew how weak we were when He called us. Yet He wanted us anyway. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. Nothing we do surprises Him. In one of the psalms David says, “He knows our frame, He knows we are but dust” (Ps 103:14). Clearly He’s not impressed with our natural capacities. How silly our well-intended promises must sound to Him when we try to assure Him that we will never fail that way again. Yes, it pleases Him that we want to please Him, but He knows only too well that our willpower is hopelessly weak in the face of severe temptation. That doesn’t mean we can’t be victorious. It doesn’t mean we won’t be victorious, but it does mean we won’t until the Holy Spirit indwells us and we learn to lay hold of His power, until we truly discover that “greater is He who is in [us] than he who is in the world” (1Jn 4:4), until we’ve learned how to “put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit” (Ro 8:13).

Peter meant every word he said when he vowed to the Lord, “I will lay down my life for You” (Jn 13:37). But Jesus saw his weakness and replied, “Will you? Actually you will deny Me three times before morning” (paraphrase). Peter would have been wise not to take that discussion further. But he felt he knew his heart, he knew he really meant it, so he argued with Jesus. He said, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You,” and all the other disciples said the same thing (Mt 26:35). Yet as you and I know, because we’ve read ahead, they all failed just as He said they would, not at first (Jn 18:10), but later after Jesus was arrested. That bold resolve collapsed, and they fled. As He died on the cross they watched fearfully from a safe distance. In the days before His resurrection they met in secret behind locked doors.

But the amazing part is that even though Jesus knew they would fail to keep those promises, He went on to tell them how much He loved them and what wonderful apostles they were going to be in the future. He looked past their failure and saw their glory. He looked past the broken promises and saw men full of the power of the Holy Spirit. What did He see that evening? Whatever it was we need to see it too.