Seeing "The Bible" series on The History Channel this past month has seemed to really help people even more so view the people of the bible as normal people and help us step in their shoes.  

When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilot, he did not see any wrong with Jesus and told them not to bother him with it.  However, after they convinced that if Jesus was not dealt with, there could be riots and an uprising of the people.  Pilot did not want to appear weak or that he did not have control of the situation, so his mind started to shift into having Jesus punished like they wanted even though he knew in his heart it was wrong.

Pilot's wife had also been having terrible dreams about Jesus and Him being killed which she shared with her husband, but Pilot would not listen to her.  She knew that her dreams meant something and was terrified when they finally brought in Jesus to be crucified.  

Pilot was power hungry and even though his heart was pulled towards Jesus, he did not stand his ground enough to stop it.  Now this is obviously tricky in a sense because it was Jesus plan to die and this had to be carried out.  However in our own lives, it is still a good reminder to not let peer pressure rule us.  

We all have that desire and need to be accepted by our peers, but falling into the trap of thinking that is what will make us happy is where we go wrong.  Our hope has to rely in Jesus and His plans for our lives first.  When our focus is on that, the pressures of this world will not go away by any means but we will have better focus on what is important.  

When the time comes to make big decisions in our lives, help us not fall into the same trap that Pilot did, but look to God over the trappings of success, power or popularity.  None of those things are bad in the right context, but if they are ruling our decision making, we need to re-focus our hearts.