“And Judah said to Israel his father, ‘Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die . . . ‘“ Genesis 43:8 (ESV)

Where tiny mustard seeds
grow large
and a little one
becomes a thousand.

Where giving away
refills the cup
and holding back
empties the hand.

Where the puffed-up
fall down hard
and the broken
rise healed.

Where to find life
one must lose it
and seeds buried
a harvest yield.

Where the wide world enters
through a narrow gate
and anyone's story
can be rewritten.

Where less of me
means more of Him
and the humble are exalted
again and again . . .

In the upside down
inside out
opposite
kingdom of God.
……….

“It’s opposite day!” My kids would shriek, as they labelled the day to mean that a “yes” would mean “no” and a “no” would mean “yes”. Let’s just say those days didn’t get a lot of traction! To their credit, my kids wanted to shake up the status quo and make life fun and interesting.

When I look at God’s Word and His way of doing things, sometimes it seems like “opposite day” to what I think should happen. He keeps the plot interesting and shakes up my status quo. His ways are a mystery to even the wisest Bible scholars.

It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph to the caravan headed to Egypt. Judah’s intervention set into motion the plan to “save a remnant” of Israel. Judah was also the brother who reminded their still-grieving father, Jacob, that the brothers would need to take Benjamin back to Egypt with them, as Joseph had requested.

Judah fulfilled the role of intercessor and peace maker. He was the fourth child of Jacob and Leah, the lesser loved wife. Jesus was from the lineage of Judah, rather than from the oldest son, Reuben. Not only did Judah not have the “perfect” birth order, he was not perfect in character, as the recorded family history makes plain. But God worked through him to fulfill His plan.

Man’s ways are not God’s ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV) says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God seems to delight in doing the unexpected. He can use whatever person in whatever position to fulfill His purposes. The lineage of Jesus includes people who wouldn’t have had the right background, had they applied for the job. His bloodline includes a prostitute, Rahab, a Moabite widow, Ruth, and a young shepherd boy, David, to name a few of the outliers.

There’s no figuring out the kingdom of God. Man’s “rules” don’t apply. God sees through to the heart and fulfills His purposes through the people of His choosing. His Kingdom remains a beautiful mystery to man.

This gives me hope that God can use this writer from Kentucky to fulfill His purposes. And if He can use me, He can certainly use you, too.

Thank you, Lord, that I don’t have to change my birth order or background to be used of you. You take me as I am. Use me, I pray, for your kingdom purposes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.