The Upside Down Truth of God

Have you ever scratched your head when reading Scripture, thinking, “but that’s backwards?” Some things are super straightforward and others are opposite of what we think should be true. 

That’s how the people of Jesus’ day thought about His teachings, which were nothing like those of the rabbis who taught in their synagogues. Things like “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Or “you must be born again”. That one really confused Nicodemus because he was seeing with physical eyes, not spiritual ones. Or “if you want to save your life you have to lose it.” What does that mean?

“Pick up your cross and follow Me,” “Let the dead bury their own dead,” “It’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

Jesus said a lot of things that should make us pause. He taught more in paradox and parable than we may realize and those tools were used to impart deep truth. But we tend to skim over them and shake our heads in confusion. I know. I’ve done the same thing.

One that I’ve wrestled with over the years is found in the Old Testament. “Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I’ve asked Him, “Lord, wouldn’t it be easier for us if you gave us the desires of our hearts and then we would thank you?” That’s how it is with gift giving, right? 

But ten lepers asked Jesus for healing and only one returned to say thanks. Before He ate and sometimes before He performed a miracle, Jesus thanked God first. Then He did the miracle. 

But how can we delight in Him or give thanks first when we don’t see the blessing? When we don’t see the prayers answered or our hearts filled with delight?

Then again, if we are honest with ourselves, how many of us actually give thanks? Even after we receive the gift? How many of us take the gift for granted? How many of us forget the giver the minute the blessing, desire, miracle, is in our hands? 

Sometimes our hearts grow calloused, don’t they? Mine does. And we take for granted what we are given. 

Are we thankful for life, for the ability to breathe air for another day, for health, for each other, for a place to live and a vehicle to drive or a pet to love? So often we miss the daily blessings because we are always focused on the “not yets”. 

Maybe that’s why God speaks to us in paradox or uses upside-down thinking. His thoughts are not our thoughts and yet He has plans for us. Could it be that our heart’s desires can’t come to us until we learn to first delight in the Giver of those desires?

I’ve asked that many time, and the question brings me to ask Him, “How do I delight in You? Show me how to seek You first.”

How do we develop  a passionate love for God when His ways are topsy turvy to all we understand? How do we obey Him when we aren’t sure where He might lead?

Abraham was just told to go “to a place that I will show you.” 

Can I be honest? If God told me to just pack up and start walking until He told me to stop, I would question whether I had heard Him right. Of course, the culture and times were a lot different back then, but still…could I leave my comfort zone and go and do something He wants me to do? Can I learn to delight in what delights Him? Is that how I delight in Him? By delighting in His presence and delighting in what He loves?

I find God both utterly fascinating and completely beyond my ability to grasp. And at other times He makes perfect sense to me. And maybe that’s the way He likes it. He is God to all who will have Him. The youngest child can understand the way to His heart. And the most intellectual skeptic (as C. S. Lewis and Lee Strobel once were) can grapple with His truth and admit that He is bigger than they are. 

If God didn’t turn our human thinking on its head, I think we would respect Him less. We would never come to see His power. And we could never grow into the type of people He wants us to be. 

Why does it take believing in Jesus to be saved? Belief isn’t hard, and yet it’s impossible. A child can believe. An adult fights her pride to do the same simple mental and heart-giving task.

For those who know Him, we serve a great God. But He’s not someone we will ever fully understand. He’s not simple and He’s not safe. He asks us to do hard things and yet He offers to carry our burdens when life overwhelms us. He is always good and His love never ending. And those are some of the few reasons why perhaps I can learn to delight in Him BEFORE He grants me the desires of my heart.

~Selah

#paradox #lovetruth #livegrace #themysteriesofgod