This morning I had a phone chat with a friend who lives in Seattle. She and her husband have taken up kayaking on the beautiful waters that surround that area. Most of the time they use individual kayaks and go out on a lake, but recently they decided to tandem kayak on Puget Sound. She described the lake waters as smooth and easy to maneuver. By contrast, rowing in the Sound was hard. They fought against the current in their attempt to row in sync and make headway. She said she could focus on nothing else but the struggle.

Struggles are like that, aren’t they? My friend was struggling with water currents, but I could relate all she said to the struggles of life. It’s easy to only focus on the struggle and thwart any forward movement. We move through the day with difficulty as if we are pushing against an emotional or situational current.

Just before today’s Scripture passage, Jesus sent the disciples out into a boat to go ahead of him to the other side of the lake while he went off by himself to pray (Mark 6:45–52). Their encounter with the water was much like my friend described. They strained and struggled to make any headway in the challenging water.

Did you notice it was the Lord who sent them in the boat? In other words, they were in the Lord’s will. Don’t miss this: A struggle does not mean you are out of the Lord’s will. We want relief from struggle, don’t we? When it feels like there’s no headway in ministry or spiritual growth, it feels like the Lord is far away, doesn’t it?

Friends, the Lord sees us in our struggle. He saw the disciples and he came to them and spoke words of comfort and revelation, “Take heart; It is I. Do not be afraid.”

What does this story reveal about the participation of Jesus in our struggles?

So far in their travels, the disciples have seen Jesus calm a horrific storm, heal diseased and infirmed people, and command demons to leave the possessed. They have seen Jesus raise a dead girl to life, walk on water, and feed thousands with a meager amount of food. They’ve heard teaching about the kingdom and have seen Jesus live that teaching through his words and actions. Yet here are the very same people—the ones closest to Christ, the ones we would consider religious experts—still unable to grasp the identity of Jesus. Talk about lack of perception! These men watched as he touched blind eyes and made them see, and deaf ears and made them hear and still could not see the truth of who he was nor hear the truth of what he taught.

You may have heard the term “lifelong learning.” It’s something the military emphasizes as a way to open doors of opportunity. As a Christ follower you must commit yourself to lifelong learning about him. Sisters, with our best efforts we will never understand all there is to know about God and his work, but he will teach us more and more about him as we make ourselves open to his training.

Friend, there is no shame in not understanding the fullness of God. The only thing that must disappoint us is when we stop learning and think we’ve learned all there is to know. Or if, like the disciples, we forget what we’ve already learned. We must be guided by the principle that the more we know him, the more we love him. The more we love him, the more we worship him. The more we worship him, the easier it is to trust his plan. The more we trust his plan, the more we want to be part of that plan.

I’ve known many long-time followers of Christ who have read through the Bible multiple times. Each time they say they understand things they did not understand before. Have you experienced this in your life yet? How?

I am one of those moms who takes full advantage of the captive audience that comes with a road trip. Yes, there is the perfunctory, “Are we there yet?” but that will not deter me from the mission at hand. What is the mission? On every trip, the inside of our vehicle becomes sacred space, a training ground, a place for impartation of faith, family, and fun into the lives of our kids.

Here in Mark, the road trip to Caesarea Philippi includes intense training with the twelve disciples. Teaching “on the way” was a strategy Jesus used with his disciples. He took full advantage of the travel time to train them in kingdom principles. Today’s Scripture illustrates that this was no occasion for chat or entertainment. The curriculum did not cover a minor issue. The lesson for this day was the most important question of all: Who is Jesus?

You may have noticed a recurring theme to this point in our journey with Jesus and his disciples: The disciples were a bit thick-headed. They did not get the meaning of Jesus’ mission or the nature of their discipleship.

The question Jesus asked is still one of the most discussed questions in the world. People still debate if he is just a prophet, just a teacher, just a religious man. Or is he more? Jesus brought the question home when he said, in essence, “Okay, I know what others say, but who do you say I am?” As spokesman for the group, Peter voices the uniqueness of Jesus as Messiah, God’s promised Savior. At last, the truth about Jesus is recognized and acknowledged.

The question is posed to you too, whether or not you have done extensive research on other religions and can explain what other people have said about Jesus. The most important answer any of us will ever have to give is our response to the Lord when he asks, “Who do you say I am?”

Who is Jesus to you? How has your view of Jesus changed as you have journeyed with him?

Perspective has to do with the way objects appear or are viewed. For instance, a realtor may use a wide-angle camera to make a room look larger.  Perspective can also be defined as a mental view or outlook. Sometimes just placing myself in a different environment gives me an improved perspective on my circumstances.

Recently, I spent a week in the mountains of Colorado with some military wives who are in the midst of deployment. Mountain air, picturesque vistas, time to linger around the table, deep and meaningful discussion all contributed to a refreshed perspective of how to thrive in a less than optimum situation. We left that mountain with renewed courage and energy to love and serve others.

One day Peter, James, and John spent some time on a mountain with Jesus. On that mountain their perspective on Jesus was changed. If they had any doubt of the identity of the one they had left everything to follow, those doubts were finally put to rest. (Can we all say together: It’s about time!) How do you argue with clothes that become radiant before your eyes, a conversation with ancient prophets, and the voice of God using a cloud as a megaphone to endorse his Son? This scriptural account of special effects is called the Transfiguration. The disciples witnessed a physical change in Jesus as he interacted with Moses, Elijah, and God the Father. They witnessed the glory of God, and it changed their perspective.

These disciples saw God as few on earth have. God did not use smoke and mirrors or the latest digital rendering, but through his miraculous power he revealed a small glimpse of Jesus’ true glory. Whenever the Lord opens our eyes of faith to see a little more of him, we too come down the mountain not with only a new perspective on him, but as better people for him.

What is your perspective on Jesus now? Do you need to get off the trail and get alone with the Lord in order to gain a fresh view?