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.”

The lame man was carried by his friends each day to beg outside the Beautiful gate. It was his routine but one day was different - the day Peter and John saw his broken limbs and healed him in the name of Jesus. He didn’t imagine anything different would happen that day, as he sat down on his mat, but it was going to be the day that God would make beautiful.

The word “beautiful” in Acts 3.2 here doesn't mean beautiful in appearance, but beautiful in timing and effect.  The beggar received in that “kairos” moment, much more than he asked for or expected.  The Apostle Paul expected every believer to understand the difference between “kairos” and “chronos”.  “But concerning the times (chronos) and the seasons (kairos), brethren, you have no need that I should write to you” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:1)  “Chronos” is earth time - regular, linear and predictable.  “Kairos” is God's moment; the due time, the right time when eternity, intersects with “chronos”.  It is sometimes unexpected, it's often miraculous and sometimes it even seems to come too late.  Think of Lazarus.

Joseph's “chronos” was difficult and challenging, including a pit, a promiscuous princess and a prison. It looked bad but God was about to make it beautiful.  Gods “kairos” made him a prince with power.  He always believed it and came to see that “My times are in your hand” (Psalms 31.15)

Zachariah and Elizabeths “chronos”, included 60 years of childless service to God. It looked too late and too difficult, but God was about to make it into something beautiful. Gods “kairos” brought the miracle son John, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. It was more than they could have asked for or expected.  “Chronos” can produce the results of human effort or demonic strategy, but “kairos” has an outcome that is beautiful, miraculous, abundant and necessary for destiny!

Friend, in the middle of a Covid crisis, when we are sitting on a mat just waiting for another day to pass or thinking that it might be too late to birth our best days of business or ministry, let’s remember that it is just Chronos. Chronos has never stopped God doing His will. In fact, Chronos is just a set up for a step up.   “He has made everything beautiful in His time” (Ecc 3:11). Our Sovereign King is right now, in the midst of creating Kairos moments for His Church. He is always in control and always working. And while demons or democrats may want us broken or barren, He is making and will make, all things beautiful in His time. The lame will walk, the withered arms will be raised and the forerunner Elijah company, is about to be birthed.