What a View!

A few years ago we were ministering in Alaska – that most amazing and wonderful of American States. Not only was I able to take advantage of being there to have a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure of fishing for salmon, in the most prolific salmon waters of the world, but we were taken in a light aircraft on the most adventurous flight of my life! I’m not sure I would choose to go again, but I’m sure glad I went once!

Mount McKinley, at 20,320 ft, is the highest mountain in North America. The summit was first climbed in 1913, almost a hundred years ago. It lies at the heart of Alaska. There is only one way that people like me can ever get close enough to the top of such a mountain to enjoy its spectacular views – and that’s by climbing into a light aircraft, equipped with skis as an alternative landing gear to wheels. As I looked at the plane on the ground, and then at the distant mountain, I did question whether or not this was a bridge too far, for someone with not much of a head for heights! But it was too late, we’d booked, we climbed in and were off!

It was the most incredible, unbelievable and wonderfully hair-raising journey I will ever take! We were soon above the snow line, flying over glaciers, made of ice hundreds of feet thick; trusting our pilot, believing he knew where he was going and how to get back; flying, it seemed, straight at a wall of rock, only tilting the wings at the last minute to escape into open air as we climbed higher and higher; finally we landed in the snow on the highest possible glacier that the tiny plane could reach. We were alone ‘on top of the world’ – it was an unforgettable experience.

As I look back on that amazing trip, and think about today’s Scripture, I realise that what we experienced is nothing, when compared with the view God gives us from his perspective, not just of the view from one mountain, but of the whole world. His perspective is not limited by either man’s aeronautic abilities or his human understandings. He is not just looking at the physical, but at what is happening in the spiritual realms also. He sees the way man, in his pride and self-sufficiency, is trying to solve the problems of the world, without reference to the only One who can give you a right perspective on how things really are.

The world desperately needs to get in ‘God’s light aircraft’ and see things from His viewpoint. But there is a problem – in order to get His perspective on things, man must first humble himself. It is only then that we can have lift-off, for the Word of God promises that He will then lift us up (James 4:10). As our leaders seek to tackle the world’s problems, we need to pray that they will humble themselves, so that they may get God’s viewpoint on things and start to tackle the real issues with the supernatural insight we get from being seated with Him in the heavenly realms.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that in You we have the enormous privilege of being able to see the world from a right perspective. Help us not to focus our attention only on what we can see in the physical, but to see the reality of the spiritual warfare which is pulling at the hearts of men and women. I pray that You will raise up leaders in the world who will have the courage to humble themselves, so that, in and through You, they will have a right perspective on the world as it is and the actions they need to take. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.