As King David rested in Jerusalem, he reflected upon his difficult life and the goodness of God. He said, “God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect” (2 Samuel 22:33 )

David didn't say that his way always seemed perfect to him but that God made his way perfect for him. A leader's live is never perfect; it is not a showcase for the easy life but a display of God’s enabling grace. Our way is not easy or perfect, but He makes our way or our life perfect for us. Our wife may not be perfect, but she is perfect for us. Any imperfection she seems to have will help you to grow more like Jesus; as you forgive, and show kindness and patience.  We live in a world that is broken and fraught with hardships, but God can make that “difficult way” a perfect way to experience Him more and to enable us to reflect Him more.  Even times and events we don’t understand we can trust is perfect for us. Like Joseph, it might just take 17 years or more to see it.

He also said “As for God, His way is perfect. His perfect justice, love and wisdom mean that God can do no wrong, even if we don't understand some things. One thing that even King Solomon couldn’t understand, was “The way of a serpent on a rock (Proverbs 30:18).  I don't understand the way of the serpent on the Rock either. I don't know how Satan negotiates with God. I don’t understand how demonic attacks can happen when we’re praying more than ever. I don’t understand how it works between God and Satan really; how God is sovereign, yet the devil’s limited freedom seems to be a little too free at times. But we are not asked to understand all things but to trust at all times, Him who does all things perfectly.

Friend, one thing we do know, is if life doesn't seem perfect or even good right now, we can trust that He is making our way perfect for us.  Justice and righteousness are the unshakable foundation of His throne, and we are like Joseph in the prison. It is still perfect. All we lack is a few year’s perspective.

Jesus was born from heaven but lived in Nazareth.  He was born royal yet birthed in a manger.  It is not where you live that makes you royal, but it is who your Father is. Good things can come out of Nazareth, and from where you live too!

Hebrews 2.10 says that God is bringing many sons to glory.  That is, He is bringing you and me into His full intention for us! We are not divine but the Person within us, is. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God so loves the world, that He continues to give sons and daughters.

“Seeing” our sonship should affect the way we live.  and until we know it in our hearts, we will live below our dignity and our destiny.  Some behaviour is beneath those that are birthed from above. When the prodigal son remembered who he was, it changed the way he lived.  His condition was changed only after he remembered his position as a son.

Friend, you have been born into the world and into your city, from above. The sons are back in town!  Don’t live beneath your status or your purpose. You are royal, you are secure and you are filled with power to give away. There are people all around you who need you to live as a son and daughter.

 God is a good God. He never leaves us and He never forsakes us. But sometimes it takes time for us to realize that. When Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers, he may have found it difficult to see the hand of God. Then after six years in Pharaoh’s Court, he was falsely accused and thrown into prison.  He may have found it difficult to see the faithfulness of God. But after he was elevated to Prime Minister of the land and was then able to provide food for his father and his brothers, he could see the awesome wisdom and faithfulness of God.  His ending was so different to the journey, but He had to wait a while. Servant in six years, prime minister in 20! Perhaps the bigger the influence you will have, the bigger the time you need in God’s preparation.

It may only be days, or it might be many years before you realize that God has been completely faithful. But He will be. He can only be Himself; a faithful God. You haven’t seen the end of the story.

Jonah, God has not finished with you yet. You may still feel imprisoned in the belly of the fish you can’t control, but He will get you to the right place in the end.

Jeremiah, you may still be locked up in prison. But one day you will realize that while you were locked “safely” in prison, many others walking free outside in Jerusalem were being killed.

Ruth, it looks like you have lost, your land, your husband, your sister and your future, but you don’t yet have enough perspective. God is arranging the best future for you. A husband, a redeemer, a place, a family and an heir. Give it time.

Friend, if you can’t look back and see that God is faithfully working all things together for your good, keep looking for a while yet.

The ship was rolling in the heavy seas as the powerful storm called the Euroclydon threatened her safety. Paul had anticipated the danger when he first boarded the ship. The weather was bad but it wasn't a mistake; the wind was ordered. It wasn't comfortable but it was commissioned. Paul didn't ask for it but he needed it. Peter said we will only get tests and trials “if need be”. This was just part of the process for God’s promise to be fulfilled.

To grow and have peace in our troubles, we need to realise it is part of the process that brings us to the promise. If God could have brought Israel into the Promised Land without change, He would have. If God needed you to have that job you just lost, to become what you needed to be, you would never have lost it. If God knew you needed that friend who just moved away, for you to become the woman God intended you to be, they would still be here. God know what we need to become His champions. We all want the promise but less want the process. Everybody wants to look like a Schwarzenegger but nobody wants to spend three hours at the gym. We are to meet with God in our trials and grow stronger like Paul. He didn't just go through the storm, he grew through the storm.

Friend, there are no easy steps toward your destiny, but they are always purposeful steps. God’s plan, is that your test becomes part of your testimony. Hold on and discover that He is holding you.

There are 2 groups of people that see everything clearly. The rest of us can only approximate this reality in our hearts and minds.

The first group are those in hell.  In Luke 16, the rich man found himself in hell and saw things perfectly for the first time. He saw that he was in Hades, not Paradise and he saw there was no way out. He saw that he was wrong about the way he lived and everything he believed, He saw that God was holy, His word was true and hell was real. He saw the dangers of ignorance and pride and wanted others to be warned.

The second group are those before the throne of God.  The living creatures cry “Holy Holy”, as they circle the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They see His sovereign power and beauty and in endless realization of His majesty and glory, they can only shout Holy! They see that every created atom is held together by unspeakable might, and every act of God worked in the affairs of men, was love revealed, and they cry Holy.

The twenty-four elders see that everything was created by God for His glory.  They saw their utter debt to God for their existence and their utter debt to the Lamb for their forgiveness and salvation. Before this King Jesus, they could find no lower place than the floor, so they fell down.

Friends, there are two places we can get perfect vision and understanding. None of them are earthly. Men without God can’t see at all and certainly AI is blind to His glory. AI can give you a script but no vision- words but nothing that God has said. Until you've seen God, we've got nothing to say. Only seeing Him clearly enables us to see everything else clearly. Our vision will be totally healed at the throne, but even now, Father grants us a spirit of revelation and wisdom in the knowledge of Him. Nothing we see, think or believe is right until we have seen Him. Psalm 36.9. In your light, we see light.

As Elijah sat in the cave amongst the mess of his life, he couldn’t see God in his circumstances. God wasn't doing what Elijah thought He would do.  His cave was not just a geological place but a spiritual and mental place God never planned for him to be in. Elijah didn’t think that God saw him as valuable. He had even asked God to end his life. He had gone into a cave but God would not leave him there. " And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

The great honour of God speaking was lost on Elijah and he blurts out his depression, paranoia, and hopelessness. “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”  (1 Kings 19:8). The prophet Elijah felt ineffective and a failure. Sometimes we get our sense of worth from the perceived value of our effectiveness and circumstances. We are tempted to derive our worth from our busyness or profile in the body of Christ, but we are valuable to God because we are His special creation.  When we realise that we were created on purpose for a purpose, we can be assured that every situation we are in, is crafted by Him or will be used by Him, even if others have made it hard for us. 

Friend, you are of great value to our Father, and both your and your circumstances are part of God’s workmanship. Don’t equate your value with your circumstances. Jesus’ life was strewn with difficulties and trouble, yet he was loved intensely by His Father. So are you, and every trouble Jesus endured brought him a step closer to the crown and the joy that was set before Him. God brought Elijah and Jesus out of their cave into their purpose and He will do the same for you. Listen is He calling you to come out?

Shafts of light fell through the small hole in the wall of the prison and John shifted his position on the floor to be in the sun. It felt good and, in his heart, he worshiped his King. Suddenly he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.   “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:” Rev 1:10  

Being in the Spirit brought supernatural change to what John saw and heard.  John was imprisoned on Patmos Island, but God took him into the Spirit and showed him how things truly were. Things he could not see with his natural eyes.  He saw Gods victory even though his circumstances were confining.  He could see that while he is limited, God works without limitation. Though John was isolated, he saw Jesus in the midst of the church. He saw Jesus moving even when his situation looked static.

In the Spirit, you can see that God is working everything together for good for those that love God.  It means to be able to see or hear what Father is saying in your situation or in spite of your situation.  We can be going through a loss and still see that God is adding something to your life; Have a really bad day but still see the blessing of God and good coming our way.  He was in prison but in the Spirit on the Lords Day. In the Spirit, it's always the Lords Day!

Friend, go into the Spirit today. Jesus is speaking to you there. See that God rules in your life, not your “prison guard or your prison walls”.  See the King sovereign and unshaken in His purpose. Being in the Spirit always trumps being in the prison.

Everybody gets disappointed at some stage. Disappointed with their husband, boss or their children, it’s just part of life. People are not perfect, and we almost expect to be disappointed. But what if you feel disappointed with God?

Naomi in the book of Ruth went down to Moab because there was a famine in Bethlehem. Then while in Moab, her husband and her two sons or died. When she returned to Bethlehem, she told everybody to call her Mara, as she felt that the Lord had made her come back empty. “Call me Mara for I'm bitter”.  Her sadness was understandable, but wasn’t aware that God was making an appointment for her with destiny. She was about to become the great grandmother of King David and part of Messiahs line.

We are mostly disappointed because we don’t yet have perspective. The disciples were disappointed when Jesus went to the cross, they had no idea it was His appointment. Joseph was extremely disappointed as he looked back at his brothers from the camel’s back. Young alone and now sold to traders by his family, a huge sense of betrayal, fear and wild ideas about the future filled his mind. How could they do that a brother and where is God?  It would be years before Joseph would ascend the steps of government and see that his difficult past, was the necessary path to His appointment.

Friend, many times, when we can’t see the disappointment as His appointment, it’s only a matter of time and perspective. Perhaps someone or the devil meant it for evil, but God means it for your good. Stay patient and trusting until your appointment appears.