²⁷ Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

²⁹ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

³⁰ But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. ³² As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

³³ Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Dear God, the telling of this story is almost verbatim from Matthew’s telling (Matthew 16:13-28). We often get similar stories told similarly, but this one really hit the radar because it is strikingly similar.

It’s always a good lesson to learn: “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” I journaled about this a couple of weeks ago, but it’s still a good message for me today. Everything I see is usually from my point of view. I rarely try to stop and look at things from your point of view. I can see you move is certain situations. I can look back on the last three months as some of the most blessed with good things (from my “human point of view”) as I’ve ever experienced. But what if these last three months weren’t the most blessed from your point of view? What if the hellacious year of 2013 was the year when you were really working?

My wife and I are about to have some time off together. We need this. We need to get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake—to another village. To a secluded place. I think this is one of the concepts upon which my heart needs to meditate. How can I get myself to start seeing the world—even tragedies and hardships—from your point of view? 

Father, I’m here to offer myself to you. Be glorified through me. Thank you for everything. Really. Thank you. Thank you for what you’ve been doing lately and what you continue to do. And I don’t want to be insensitive to those around me. I know some who have been through big life transitions over the last few months. Some have been hard transitions for them. I’m so sorry for them. Please strongly support and help them. Love them. Encourage them. Provide for them. Give them rest. Help them to see all of this from your point of view. Be on the move in their lives. 

In Jesus’ name I pray, 

Amen