Everything Falling into Place

     Every person has an idea of what life will look like when everything falls into place.  We believe that everything will have meaning.  It will have meaning, but it is not always the happy ending people are searching for.  Things happen so that you will look for God, teach you a lesson, teach another, or some reason that is beyond the human concept.  It may not be what you want, but it is what needs to happen.
     Do you think Jesus wanted to be arrested and treated like a horrible criminal when He did nothing wrong?  Jesus was betrayed by one of His closest friends.  Another one of His closest friends cut off an ear of a guard to try to protect Him.  None of these scenarios are ideal or pleasant.  However, it had to play out.
     Jesus handled it with grace.  He had Peter put away his sword and healed Malchus's ear (the guard).  It could not have been easy to allow Himself to be arrested, bound, and taken to a series of trials when He could have freed Himself at any time. 
     Peter was a faithful friend, but when it came to being tortured and possibly dying with Jesus, he caved to the pressure.  I believe Jesus gave him the fierce self-preservation instinct so that Peter could become someone else to serve and die at a later time. 
     Jesus was interrogated about His teachings.  People may have hated Him, but they were still interested.  He always lived a transparent life.  That is not easy.  When you live transparently, you leave yourself open to the cruelty of others.  The natural instinct is to self-preservation, but not for Him. 
     Everyone had a part in the story.  The past, present, and future  all came together.  It was bigger than anyone could see, but Jesus.  We are still a part of that story even if we do not understand how or why.

John 18