What Is That to You?

Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” John 21:21-22 NKJV

My wife and I had our close friends over at our house last week for dinner and cards. Phase 10 was the game of choice. For those who have never played, the goal is to complete ten different phases first, and get rid of all the cards in your hand to win. An example would be Phase 1, the easiest of all the phases. Two sets of three cards, that could mean three 1s or 2s. It doesn’t matter as long as you have two sets. We all got the first phase immediately, but then the trouble started.

Our wives got the first four phases with no problem, but us men were still stuck on completing phase 2. They thought they had us beat and enjoyed being ahead, but out of nowhere my wife got stuck on phase 4 for five hands and her friend made it to phase 5 and then she got stuck for several hands. Meanwhile, the men surpassed them and were feeling great until we got stuck. 

All throughout the game, we were all in different phases and needing different cards to complete our phase. Sometimes I was one card away from completing my phase and then I’d get skipped and someone would finish their phase before I could draw again. Sometimes one of us would get a wild card; the card that could take the place of any other card you needed. The wild card was a tremendous help in completing our phase.

That’s how my walk with God feels sometimes. All of us are in different phases of our walk with God. It seems like someone is in a phase where everything they touch turns to gold and they’re getting wild cards every time they draw. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m stuck and getting skipped. 

Peter probably felt like that when he asked Jesus about John. Jesus had just told Peter what kind of death he would have and Peter wanted to know about John. Jesus basically said it’s none of your business. You follow me in the path I’ve set out for you and don’t worry about what other people are doing. 

What do we do when we feel stuck and skipped? When everybody else is getting all the wild cards?

Keep walking in what we know He’s called us to do and remember, it’s just a phase we’re in. We eventually complete that phase and move on to the next. Keep in mind everyone is in a different phase in their walk with God and you only hurt yourself when you compare yourself to where other people are in their walk. 

In Phase Ten, you win when you complete the tenth phase and have the fewest points if there are other people who have also completed the tenth phase. But if we’re children of God, it doesn’t matter what phase we’re in when He returns. We all win. 

Let’s keep our eyes turned upon Jesus and not look around at what He has other people doing. What is that to you? Follow Him.