Jesus took His disciples on an educational tour of pagan Caesarea Philippi, where He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"  They told him that the people thought He was a prophet but Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."    Jesus replied "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Mat 16:13 -18 )  Both Peter and Jesus declared who the other person was.  Peter said Jesus was the Christ and Jesus said Peter, was a rock. Both revelations are necessary before the Church can be built. Jesus was saying “You perceive me rightly, and you must perceive yourself rightly too!” The church can be built when we see ourselves rightly. 

Have you seen yourself lately?  You’re a world changer! God doesn’t see your limitations for He knows what He can do through you. At Jacobs well, in Samaria Jesus did not see the women as dirty but thirsty. Not as a powerless immoral woman but an evangelist; a divine witness and a well springing up into a river of life into her community. She came for a bucket full and left as a river full.

Friend, Jesus always sees you more correctly than you see yourself. When we see Him correctly, He will help us see ourselves correctly. When we leave Him who sits on His “throne well,” we will see ourselves as a river of life ready to flow out to the lost, as He builds his church.

One gemstone talked about a lot in the Bible is the pearl which is strange because in the Old Testament, oysters were unclean animals and couldn’t be eaten by a Jew. In the New Testament they are honoured reminding us that through Christ, something precious can come out of the unclean.  Even the gates of the new city or the glorious church are likened to pearls.   “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass”.  Rev 21:21

God designed oysters to make valuable pearls from sand or other irritations that get inside the sensitive tissues of the oyster.  The oyster releases a substance called nacre, (Nac-ray) that coats the irritant until the grit is covered over and becomes a smooth lovely pearl.

We are pearl makers too. God has given us a substance which when released over our irritants, can transform situations into something valuable. The nacre we release is called “blessing.” “Finally, …be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing”. 1 Peter 3:8 We inherit blessing when we bless our “irritants”.

Friend, don’t “curse” your upbringing, the traffic, the boss, the neighbours or your spouse. As we bless people, circumstances and even our past, our Father can transform every troubled circumstance and relationship into a pearl of great value. Let’s be people that bless and receive blessings! Our attitude could become the very “Pearl Gate” someone needs to be able to enter the city of God.

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.

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.

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.

During the Viet Nam war the phrase “The Eye of the Tiger” was coined– which referred to the fierce gaze of a soldier once wounded in battle who later comes back to fight. They were different. The fierceness of a recovered soldier is phenomenal. Perhaps you have been wounded in the battle. 

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). 

Although we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness, the devil still tries to attack us, intimidate us and bring his darkness around our heart and mind.

The reason Paul says that we wrestle against our enemies (Ephesians 6) and not box or kickbox is that wrestling is the only form of combat where you never lose physical contact with the adversary. And it is the only one that strengthens you as you fight. Have you seen the All-Black rugby team do this in training?  While they are trying to wrestle each other to the ground, they are getting stronger.  Our wrestle against darkness is creating in us the strength and spirit of a warrior. When Satan attacks you, he is unwittingly developing your fierceness and strength in God.  Satan may think he has your measure now, but he doesn’t reckon on who you are going to be in the future. 

 Perhaps the greatest threat to Christianity is not attacks from the enemy but a time of ease - when everything is quiet and there is no need for weapons or strength. The Philistines closed all the blacksmith shops in Israel to weaken them and stop them making weapons. A blacksmith shop may seem a dark place where Someone is stoking the flames. It might even look like hell but the sound of hammers hitting and striking are forming weapons in the fires of adversity. If the “blacksmith shop experiences” were taken from the church, we would have fewer weapons. 

If we have never been attacked, we cannot gain the “eye of a tiger.”  We develop “the eye” when we go through and grow through his attacks. 

Friend, the enemy has tried to intimidate you. Wrestle through the heat of the battle and you will soon find that you have a new strength and weapons that will intimidate him.  

When Job heard the news of the death of his children he collapsed in shock and felt unbearable waves of pain. Later, after losing everything he was afflicted with ugly boils. He picked up a piece of pottery and scraped his sores.  This pottery piece symbolized Job’s life once alive and full but now shattered and dry. “And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat down among the ashes” (Job 2:8). 

It seemed to Job that his life (earthen vessel) was dashed in pieces but actually rather than his life ending, God was about to make Jobs life fuller than ever.   Jobs restoration was not accomplished when God doubled the number of his children or his bank account but when Job was able to process his mounting grief and see himself and God a lot clearer. “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself And repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6)

Humans are designed to grieve yet grief is something we need to choose to enter into and not suppress. Grief is the one feeling that can heal all the other emotions we feel from loss, betrayal, abandonment and hurt. Part of grief is being able to embrace the mysteries in our life and be able to say “I am bewildered and have no idea what God is doing”. Or “Yes I’m hurt; I’m disappointed, even angry that God seems to have forsaken me”.  Embracing the fact of our limitations means we accept that we have limited knowledge and spiritual understanding.  Jobs friends and some of us still today, too easily overestimate our grasp of a situation, as we look at the difficult times in our friend’s lives or ours and wrongly judge people and God.  We need to assume the humble position of bowing before God instead of trying to be Him. It’s healing. In times of emotional pain, I have walked the streets of my neighbourhood in tears crying out to Father. I went out looking for understanding and came back only with peace.

If you feel today like a dry potsherd (broken fragment) embrace it.  Cry your tears and groan your groans before the Lord.  Coming to the end of our wisdom and control over life is something we experience so that the One we are designed to need can be found and the one we are designed to reveal, can be seen.

Friend, embrace your limitations and bow before Loving Wisdom. Don’t doubt God but doubt your understanding.  The trouble with being unbroken is that nobody ever sees Who lives within.

Can you remember when your father told you to drive carefully?  He seemed to think that you didn’t have the experience or the skill to drive safely.  Well, it turns out he was probably right.  When I was sixteen I crashed my father’s car by driving it unsafely. I slid off the road and ended up submerged in a river along with my friend who came along for the ride.  The wisdom and understanding that older people have, comes from having perspective?  They have had a chance to see life over a longer period and they have a bigger frame of reference.  In one picture a father may seem to be aiming a gun at a child but a bigger frame of reference we see a snake behind the child. That bigger frame of reference can be visual or for a longer time period.

When a student says “if only I’d done something or not done something”, they are having a moment of perspective.   When that student gets their first job and thinks either, it has been worth it all, they are having a moment of perspective.

In prison, Joseph no doubt wondered if his dream was ever going to come to pass.   It is hard to know what he was thinking when he was betrayed by brothers, accused by a woman and forgotten for years in prison. Even after sitting on the second throne of Egypt, his dream made no sense till one day his family turned up.   He then had a perspective on all his troubles and his unusual life. When life is difficult, we usually just need time to gain perspective.

Perspective also comes from living with the knowledge of the future.  Jesus washed the disciple’s feet knowing that the father had given all things to him (Jn13.33).   Jesus had perspective and it empowered him to serve without the need for the position. He was not insecure.   He knew his future was one of oneness with Father and accomplishing His will.  Knowing the joy set before Him, gave even the cruel cross perspective. If you know the future ahead of you, it changes the way you go through life. Having a true perspective of the past and the future changes everything.

Friend, the things Father asks us to do and anything we don’t understand will make sense with time and perspective.  But we don’t have to wait until the end of our life to get some perspective. Father has told us everything we need to know about our future with Him.    We can live boldly in difficult times or times of significant personal cost and know that in the future when we look back we will know “it was worth it all.”