You’re Going the Wrong Way

Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Mark 8:33

Once, while driving in the fog, I turned south towards my destination. After a few minutes, I noticed the compass in my car telling me that I was headed back north. I knew that was impossible – I hadn’t turned around – so I ignored it. Soon, I ended up back on the same road from which I’d originally turned, only a few miles down the road. The compass in my car had tried to tell me that I’d gone around one big curve, turning back north, but convinced I knew better, I refused to listen. I did it my way, which didn’t get me anywhere near where I wanted to go.

This was merely annoying in the car, but unfortunately, this has been my life story. Many times, I’ve followed my own way, oblivious to the fact that I wasn’t headed in the direction I was supposed to be going. If I did encounter some warning, I ignored it, convinced I knew better.

This was Peter’s flaw as well. In today’s story, Jesus told the disciples of his coming arrest and death. Peter didn’t like that kind of talk. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him (Mark 8:32). Jesus had some harsh words in return. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. He called Peter a tool of Satan, tempting him away from God’s plan. Peter wasn’t aware of it – he thought he was doing right – but he was following his way instead of God’s.

Like Peter, we often don’t realize the gravity of our misdirection, but following our path is our fatal flaw. The problem is that it’s so natural for us that we don’t even see anything wrong. Like me, driving north when I thought I was going south, we’re oblivious to the fact were going the wrong direction. We just do things our way, never considering that there may be a different way.

If we want to know faith and recovery though, we must realize that our natural way is often the wrong way. We must continually ask ourselves whose path we’re following. Our way may seem good in the moment, but if it’s different than God’s way, it can never get us where we truly need to go.