The Upper Side and the Underside

Sometimes all we can see in the moment is chaos and ugliness, but God sees the full picture with all its beauty and order.

The Upper Side and the Underside

This week's devotions are written by my friend Jessica Hermann, former director of our college ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

"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."

(Isaiah‬ 55‬:8‬-9‬)

This week I am sharing stories of Corrie ten Boom following my visit to the Corrie ten Boom House in Haarlem, Netherlands.

When Corrie was traveling after the war and sharing the hope of Christ far and wide, she often used a visual illustration of a self-made embroidered crown while reciting her favorite poem. Set on an elegant blue cloth, Corrie would begin by showing the back side of the embroidery. There one would only see a chaotic jumble of threads. It looks very disorderly and ugly–a bit like a hairball. This represents how we see our own lives, particularly in difficult times. What is the purpose of these threads? How could God possibly have a plan with this chaotic mess? Corrie would then turn the cloth around to expose a beautifully embroidered crown. All of that chaos on the backside was actually just one perspective of a perfectly planned masterpiece. While we may only see the underside of the cloth, God sees the upper side. Perhaps you look at your life and see many dark threads that you can't make sense of. In reality, if you are in Christ, God is using them all to prepare you for eternity where you will receive the crown of life.

This reminds me of Isaiah 55:8-9. Take a look back at the top to reread these verses. In context, Isaiah is speaking of the abundance of the grace of God! How great is His grace; it is far bigger and sweeter than we could ever comprehend. Likewise, all of his plans and purposes are beyond our understanding. In faith, however, we can trust His character and His goodness in all situations. There is a common saying of, "When we cannot trace God's hand, we can trust His heart." This is inspired by Charles Spurgeon when he said that Christians ought to believe God to be "too wise to err and too good to be unkind; he trusts him where he cannot trace him, looks up to him in the darkest hour, and believes that all is well." Surely Corrie would have observed her time in the concentration camp as full of very dark threads. She is very honest about the hatred and doubt she experienced during those years. Yet through the faith of her sister Betsy and the work of the Holy Spirit, of course, she learned to see how God was present and purposeful in what He allowed.

Take some time to read this poem and consider how the Lord sees the beauty and the order on the other side when perhaps all we see is chaos. Or better yet, click this link to see Corrie ten Boom reciting the poem herself while showing her cloth with the crown:

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft' times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.

- Grant Colfax Tullar