The Upside Down View

 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

Have you ever wondered why an ostrich sticks its head in the sand?  Or have you ever wondered how it would feel if you did it?  Or even possibly why you haven’t tried it before?  Sometimes if we would stop to think about it, it might just be the right thing to do.

Since most of my family lives in Alabama, I always treasure each opportunity we have to visit each other.  There is one particular visit that warms my heart whenever it comes to mind.  I can’t help but smile affectionately every time I remember it.

My brother drives an eighteen wheeler and had stopped by for a brief visit on his way to deliver a load.  My youngest daughter was about two years old at the time.  Like most babies at that age she was going through a shy stage.  As we sat in the den talking, she was curiously watching us and playing with her toys.  

The next thing I knew, she had turned her back to him, leaned down and put her head on the floor between her legs and was looking at him upside down through her legs!   She looked like a little ostrich!  We got so tickled at her.  She stood there for several minutes just staring at him.  I have often wondered what her little mind was thinking as she watched him from this new angle.  I'm not sure if she got tired or bored with her upside down view, but she quickly straightened up and began playing with her toys again and never gave him another glance. 

We often look at life through the Enemy’s perspective and live a defeated life.  We go through our day listening to all the negative things that are being said around us.  Slowly all the negativity begins to seep into our hearts until one day we find our self spiraling downward in a whirlwind of pessimism.  It is very easy to get caught up in speaking negative things about others or about life’s circumstances in general.  At first we feel guilty, but it eventually doesn’t affect us at all. 

What would happen if we stopped, turned our back on the negativity, put our heads down and looked at life and others in a totally different way?  We might by chance begin to see them as Christ does.  For when we look at life through Christ’s eyes, everything changes!  The next time our life starts a downward spiral, let’s remember the ostrich – let’s put our heads down and look at things differently!