Gaining Heaven’s Perspective on What’s Ahead

When it comes to perspective, you’ve probably heard some of these common sayings:

• “Let’s put things in perspective.”
• “It’s all a matter of perspective.”
• “We need to have a fresh perspective.”

Usually when significant events or challenges take place in our lives or in the world, we can find ourselves searching for meaning or perspective. Someone might ask, “Why is this happening?” or “How can I process and make sense of this?”

If we can’t see our way through a crisis, or struggle with situations beyond our control, we often seek advice and look to someone who has experience and expertise to gain their perspective.

And usually when we gain a fresher or clearer perspective on something troubling in our lives, there’s almost an immediate sense of relief – we feel at peace. We gain a new understanding and a confidence that things are going to turn out okay.

The opposite is also true. If we lack clear perspective on our lives and the world around us, we will struggle to find peace. We’ll find ourselves dealing with anxiety and frustration because we can’t make sense of what we see in the world.

The Perspective of Jesus

What if you could see the world as God sees it? What might that perspective mean for your life?

That’s exactly the perspective Jesus had.

It’s an understatement to say that Jesus brought a new perspective when He came into the world. He brought a mind-blowing perspective that no one had ever seen.

He often reminded His disciples that He came from His Father in heaven and that His perspective was not His own. All His words came from His Father.

Jesus saw everything in the world from heaven’s viewpoint which is the ultimate perspective! Everything He shared came from this pure, limitless, eternal place.

Sometimes people confuse perspective with opinion. They say that there’s no absolute truth, that everything is a matter of perspective or how you choose to see it. In other words: opinion. They might say, “I have a different perspective on that than you do.”

Perspective is not just an opinion – it’s the ability to see things clearly as they truly are.

True perspective is based on reality. If you have gained perspective on anything it means you see something clearly. It means the picture of truth and reality is clearer than it was before.

Human perspective is limited, but heaven’s perspective is rooted in eternal truth.

During Jesus’ time here on earth, everything He said and taught brought heaven’s perspective of truth and reality that even His disciples struggled to understand.

During His final hours before going to cross, he began sharing what was to come in the future. He shared how He was going to leave for a while, but that He would come back to them and not leave them as orphans. He tried to explain how He would not only come back to them, but that He would send another Helper, the Holy Spirit, to come alongside.

He then explained that the Holy Spirit would come and abide with them – and be inside them. That He and His Father would also come and live inside them and make their home with them.

This is all difficult to grasp if you don’t have heaven’s perspective and the more Jesus shared, the more the disciples struggled to understand. Recognizing this, Jesus said in John 16:12-13:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” 

Jesus could see God’s full plan from beginning to end. He saw that very soon His disciples and all those who would come after, who would believe in Him, would have God’s Spirit living inside them and would gain heaven’s perspective for themselves.

Sharing Heaven’s Perspective

The miracle of the New Birth when you receive Christ is that you now have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth living within you. Not only do you have access to heaven’s perspective, but you also now share God’s perspective within your spirit. Heaven’s perspective is now yours too.

Now when you read the Bible and the words of Jesus, as you learn to listen to your spirit and the Holy Spirit within you, the words on the pages begin to leap out to you. The Holy Spirit helps you see things you’ve never seen before.

The testimony for every Christian when you receive Christ is that you now can see truth and understand things more clearly than ever before. And with this new revelation and new understanding comes incredible peace.

This is why Jesus could say in John 14:27:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

The peace we experience as Christians is the peace of Jesus Christ Himself within us. We now share His peace, His love, His truth – all of this is within us.

Peace for What’s Ahead

Much of the anxiety we see around us comes from uncertainty about the future. Every day, something happens in the world that can create more uncertainty.

In the verse we saw earlier, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will not only guide you into all truth, but that He will disclose to you what is to come.

For humans, hindsight is 20/20. You can look at the past from a clearer perspective because you see the results of previous actions and decisions. You gain a perspective that might help you in the future.

But for God, who has the full picture of past, present and future, foresight is even better than 20/20. God has given you His Holy Spirit and has promised to give you His perspective on the future!

You can be at peace because you know what’s coming!

There are many examples in the Bible where God foretold events before they happened, and Jesus told His disciples many things that would happen in the future also. In John 14:29, He said:

“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

As you continue abiding in Christ and letting His Spirit move and speak to you, keep studying scripture, study and learn Bible prophecies and listen to the Holy Spirit as He shows you what’s ahead.

Take a moment today to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal heaven’s perspective on a situation in your own life. As you search your Bible, invite Him to guide you into all truth. The more you align your mind and heart with His perspective, the more peace you will experience – no matter what lies ahead.