upside down and inside out
I Samuel 16:7b (NIV) …The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Well, I'm here. Tho' not quite like I said I wouldn’t be today, my self declared Official Slow Day; ) But wanted to share ..
Day 12 in The Greatest Gift Advent Devo is much about the difference between how The LORD and we look at and see things. And how the way we see things strangely affects us “from housekeeping to soul-keeping.” Pretty convicting stuff for a perfectionist - which is precisely why I appreciate some things Ann Voskamp points out, perhaps more than some others would. Will try to summarize the way I understand what she shares:
With the understanding found in I Samuel 16:7b (above), perhaps it shouldn’t surprise me so much that in the “Upside Down” Kingdom of God, He continually turns things “inside out” to see the heart – and that, it seems, essentially being the “why” behind why God raised up Abel instead of Cain, Jacob instead of Esau, Isaac instead of Ishamel, Moses instead of Aaron, David instead of Eliab, Sarah instead of Hagar, Leah instead of Rachel. Tamar. Hannah. Ruth. Rahab. etc. ... And even His Own Son, The Savior!
And, well - with all of the individual “inside out” examples/stories that can be found woven consistently into HIStory, I do believe that I “see” an a-mazing "tapestry of Grace" unfolding. Tho’ I can’t help but w*o.n*d.e*r ... if perhaps it may need to be turned "upside down", in order to get the (grace)full effect, in the end?!
And all this – today, of all days. A day I specifically set aside to slow down so as to refrain from profaning, in the mundane, that which is meaningful and hallowed in what Ann Voskamp describes as "... the divine design of a day that unfolds with a grace that is not to be missed.”
Mere coincidence? Or minute miracle?! I know what I believe! But will allow you to decide that for yourself ; )
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Gift-Unwrapping-Story-Christmas/dp/1414387083/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386954774&sr=1-1&keywords=the+greatest+gift
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