I remember the look of panic on my dad’s face when he handed me the keys to his car. I was 16 years old with a newly minted driver’s license and about to drive his car alone for the first time. He didn’t say a word about what he must have felt inside, he only said, “be careful” as he handed over the keys.
This is the image that came to mind as I read Matt. 16:17-19. I could almost picture Jesus handing over a set of large keys to Peter saying, “Here’s the keys to the kingdom of heaven!” Then as Peter takes them, Jesus tells him, “Oh, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” It’s an astounding level of trust to hand over the keys to someone who just a couple chapters earlier was told he had “little faith” (Matt. 14:31, NIV).
Just as my mom and dad spent countless hours gritting their teeth and coaching me from the passenger seat as I learned to drive, Jesus spent years with his disciples mentoring them on the Kingdom of God. In the eyes of the Jewish leaders at that time, the disciples were not the type of people you would want to hand over the keys to the kingdom. Yet God’s wisdom proved right as he equipped Jesus’s disciples to take the wheel and drive “into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).”
Like Peter, God entrusts us with the keys to the Kingdom of God. He is holding out the keys to us and asking us to take them. Even though we may doubt our ability, God trusts us. He has been there in the passenger seat with us gently mentoring us and encouraging us, “You of little faith, why did you doubt (Matt. 14:31)? We only need to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ; to believe and take the keys with confidence.
© 2018 CGThelen
#Retrospective — This post originally published May 29, 2018.
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” — Mark 4:30-32
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” — Mark 16:15
140 Character Christian 
Going out into the unknown is a scary thing for ourselves and those close to us. Jesus walks with us wherever we go and as long as we hold tightly, and follow when we are called we will step rightly. We will stumble, and make mistakes, which in terms of driving a car can be scary, but God never give us keys to doors we aren’t prepared to handle.
Thank you for sharing your experience and this wisdom. 😊
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Praise God he guides us as we step into unfamiliar places. I like that phrase: “but God never give us keys to doors we aren’t prepared to handle.” He is preparing us, maturing us, each step of the way. Blessings.
Thank you for providing inspiration for my mind to decipher and put into words that phrase. 😊