Skip to main content

Upside Down


Upside down - the common definition is to position in such a way that the upper and the lower parts are reversed in position.  But it can also mean in or into great disorder.

When I recently read Isaiah 29:16, I was struck by an “upside down”:

You turn things upside down!  Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (NIV)

It seems so obvious, but the potter is not the clay and the clay is not the potter.  If they were, that would be a major and inappropriate reversal of position and the result would be an upside down, big time!

Furthermore, the normal order is that the clay is in the hands of the potter and the potter shapes it as he wishes.  The clay shouldn’t question the potter or assume the potter doesn’t know what he is doing.  Those just throw things into great disorder

While that is all fine and good to get things in the right order and have things no longer upside down, the verse really does have significant implications for us.  We are the clay and God is the potter.  To say that He did not make us, throws things into great disorder. 

In addition, He works and shapes us into what He desires for us.  But all too frequently, we try to tell Him how to fashion and shape us.  When we do, we run the risk of telling Him that He really doesn’t know what He is doing.

Either one, my friends, is very disorderly and/or absolutely upside down and are certainly not good positions to be in!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worth, Worthy and the Opposite

After reading in the Psalms recently, I was struck by the concept of worth, well, actually worthlessness.   For example, in Psalm 101 we find this:   “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless (v.3).”   And, in Psalm 119:   “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways (v. 37).” In order to consider what is worthless, we should consider what has worth.  To that, the Bible speaks clearly:  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12)   If worth is measured by power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory and blessing, which are all pretty good measurements, then the One who has infinite worth is Jesus, the Lamb that was slain.  And if we want to consider what it worthless, it is probably the opposite of all those things.  But perhaps it would still be good to define some words: Worth :   the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for metallic items of value that were lost or inadve
1 comment
Read more

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel. For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.   That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime. I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.   Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.   More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips. As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective: 1.   “ Bucket list trips ” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).   While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bucket list of spiritual e
Post a Comment
Read more