I found this to be an interesting book topic and appreciate the way the chapters are set up throughout the book - one thing opposite another. Throughout the book, Seeley shares personal stories as well as the stories of others (contributed in their own words). The book would have been stronger without the contributions, in my opinion, as they pull from the book as a whole and didn't feel like they naturally fit. At times, the stories that Seeley shared felt like a far reach - an attempt to find something that would go with the chapter theme. She hinted at things I would have been interested to read about, then spent pages sharing stories that felt like fluff. There were also several editorial mistakes, but overall my biggest disappointment in the book was the writing itself. I think there's something good there, but it wasn't quite ready to be published.

In this book, author Alex Seeley looks at the many upside down principles found in the Bible. Some of these included Death Vs. Life, Strong Vs. Weak, Worry Vs. Worship.

My favorite chapter was Full Vs. Empty. In this chapter Alex looked at Isaiah 58:11 line by line. It is chock full of so much goodness that I find myself wanting to copy and paste it all.

The verse begins, “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.“ Alex continues, “During Jesus’s time on earth, he was led into his own wilderness season, which seems so opposite to where he should’ve been going. John had just baptized him and when heaven opened and God announced, “This is my son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). This was his commissioning into full-time ministry, a declaration on earth. I wish I had been there that day to encounter God coming upon Jesus, anointing Him for service with the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in the very next verse, things take a strange turn: “Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (4:1)

“What? Can we read that again? Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil? The “empty” is actually overflowing with purpose for him...God will most often commission us and then lead us directly into a hidden season that becomes our training ground before the real platform is given to us. We all have dreams that are God-given. But in order for us to fulfill them, he needs to prepare, refine, and mature us so that we are able to carry the weight and responsibility of them. If it was necessary for Jesus to be led by God into the wilderness, then maybe we can understand how important it is to our journey.”

That last phrase stopped me in my tracks. I had never thought of it that way. I’ve spent an awful lot of time trying to avoid, deny, and run from wilderness seasons. But if a wilderness season is instrumental in Jesus’ life (who was already perfect), how much more beneficial, refining,and maturing might a wilderness season be to me?

I loved the personal stories she included about some of the faith decisions she and her husband made as they moved from Australia to the United States. If we are following God into the unknown, there are times our decisions will look foolish to the world. Faith is risky. I needed that reminder. We shouldn’t always base our decisions on our comfort or success, we need to listen for God’s whisper to us in each moment to decide what He might have us do, even if it makes no sense.

In summary, I felt the book was fairly simplistic and straight forward. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, these upside down kingdom concepts will all be familiar to you. But, I definitely found food for thought and things that convicted my heart.

Absolutely loved this book! Totally flipped my my thinking around about the Gospel. Enjoyed how she wrote about doing the opposite of how we feel makes us feel better. She loves God , TheGospel and people.

I didn't understand the title of this book until I started reading it. This title is perfect for this book. I really enjoyed the stories about how God can bless your life through trials or just when you don't expect it. The story about her and her husband is exactly what happened to me-ended up with someone I never would have expected. Great book!