“But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’” Matthew 16:23

Heavenly Vision

As I see politicians turn every situation into an opportunity to promote their personal agenda and spin circumstances to serve their own purposes, I also see their seeming inability to see the realities of need in the situation. They are blinded and thus unable to assess truth or find any lasting solutions.

I am also guilty of these things when I make everything about myself and how things will affect me personally. I miss the bigger picture and the true significance of events. My perspective is far removed from God’s perspective.

All this is going on in Matthew 26. We open with God revealing His purposes as Jesus specifically informs His disciples of what is to come during Passover—that He will be delivered up to be crucified. Meanwhile the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people plot how to take Jesus and kill Him. They put their political spin on it—not during the feast, as that would not be politically expedient.

Jesus is looking to the cross and the salvation of mankind. Politics look to power and advantage and if that means annihilating the opposition, so be it.

And then comes the story of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. One woman saw an opportunity to anoint the Messiah before His agony and suffering. Others saw this act as a total waste. They put their own spin on it saying it should have been sold and the money used for the poor. She saw the things of heaven. They saw the things of earth.

At the end of that story Jesus declares that what this woman had done will be told throughout the world as a memorial to her. But another memorial was left behind as well, the memorial of indignant men who called this offering of love a waste.

Nothing poured out for Jesus is ever wasted.

What this spoke to me was my need to see things through the lens of God’s will and purposes. Rampaging fires, smoke-filled skies, bitter politics, hatreds real and imagined, riots and looting are all realities in our times. Yet what is God doing in and through all these things? How then shall we live? He has already spoken His will and His truth as revealed in scripture. Will we become discouraged and defeated by the things of man, or will we lift our eyes to the One who has higher purposes and grander plans? May we be ever mindful of the things of God.

Father, we look to You, for Your plans are to give us a future and a hope. All our trust is in You. Amen.