Topsy Turvy

When something is upside down, inverted or out of its usual or natural state we often use the term topsy turvy to describe it. This picture I took of raindrops on a clothes line shows the trees in my yard in a topsy turvy position.  The trees show up in an inverted state because of a process known as refraction. Basically whenever light changes the media its traveling through, in this case from air to water, it refracts or bends.  Without getting into the physics of this phenomenon, suffice it to say that when light passes through the water things get topsy turvy.

 I like to think of this same thing happening when God employs his supernatural powers here on earth.  He is pure light, “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” 1 John 1:15.  Heck, he created light, and water, rocks, sky, people, well, you get the picture. He is the LIGHT source.  When God’s light enters our environment, we humans stand and scratch our heads, because his actions seem to be upside down.

 Take for example this whole grace thing.  By the sin of one man, Adam, sin and death entered the world.  We all agree on that point.  Now, how would little, human you fix this problem? Work it out, punishment, eternal servitude, invoke the statute of limitations?  Those sound like right side up solutions, from our unrefracted viewpoint.  But no, that’s not what happened.  His light came into terra firma in the person of Jesus, and by this one man’s death, not only was sin forgiven, but spiritual death abolished!  That doesn’t make sense to us, especially since we did nothing to deserve it….it’s topsy turvy grace!

While researching refraction, I read that a number of scientists, over the years, have fitted themselves with refracting glasses.  They saw the world upside down, but crazy as it may seem, after a while the effect reversed, in fact when they took them off then the world was inverted!  “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah 55:8.  Oh, how I long to put on a pair of those kind of glasses, and see what God wants me to see. Well the good news is, we can! Make it a habit to get into his word, it may see topsy turvy at first, but the more you the read and meditate, the more right side up He will become!