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Upside Down

Being that it is Holy Week, our family discussed the happenings of this week over dinner. A recurring question from our discussions was: Why do we call it Good Friday? If Jesus suffered and died, why is it considered good? Our five year old had a tough time with this concept. In his innocent mind, good looks and feels right; things are kind and happy not bloody and painful.

For the past few weeks, months really, I have written down "upside down thinking" in my Bible and my journal. As I studied Scriptures and read devotions and books about Jesus, I kept coming back to upside down thinking. Everything Jesus did was completely opposite of the way we operate. His love, relentless and open. His sacrifice, unfathomable. His life, admirable.

Good Friday did not seem very good all those years ago. People wailed and cried suffering in their own right watching their friend be put to death in the most extreme and violent way. Their perspective was right in front of them: the One who claimed to be the King hung on a cross. They didn't comprehend that Sunday was coming. They didn't have a Bible revealing the hope that was right around the corner. They were living it and Friday didn't look so good.

Perspective. We know Friday is good because we know Sunday is coming. We know the freedom that resonates in Christ's words when he says, "It is finished" in John 19:30. The story wasn't over but the sacrifice was attained. All our sins hung on that cross and when He took His final breath those sins went with it. Good. So very good.

I am beginning to understand that Jesus' upside down thinking, His upside down way of life, is really not upside down at all. My perspective shifted. I am upside down. Our culture and world is upside down. He isn't the one who is in opposition to life. We are. This world is upside down. Jesus is very much right side up.

When I wrap my head around the fact that I am the one whose thinking is upside down, I can see and accept His death on the cross as good. His sacrifice, excruciating pain, and suffering was good. God's plan, His good and holy plan, was fulfilled that day. No longer do we need to be separated from our creator. We now get to come to the throne of grace redeemed in Christ.

Jesus' life may seem upside down to many. When compared to our broken world, His life does look extreme. But it's not. The closer I move towards Him, the more my perspective broadens. I can see that there is more to the pain, brokenness, ugliness, suffering. God has a greater plan than what we see in this moment. There's more. Sunday's coming.

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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