I adore when our Lord reveals something to me through an analogy. It makes me feel so loved because I understand concepts and ideas better through imagery. One of my squad mates challenged me to write down three analogies our Lord has used to show me more about Him, and I want to share those with you guys as well! I realized that there are some images God has shown me that not many people know about, and after my squad mate expressed how much she was encouraged by reading them, I knew it was something I needed to share. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
The Tree
We’ll start with the oldest of the three, the tree. This was an analogy Holy Spirit gave me while sitting in the living room of a woman from my home church. We were talking about God’s omniscience and trying to wrap our minds around it when I got a clear image of a tree. It clicked for me instantly – of course, a tree explains everything! Let me break it down for you. So, our lives are trees; we start at one place and then branch out in innumerable directions. God sees our lives in this way: an abundance of options and directions. But, we only actually follow one of those paths. That path may have many turns and twists, but that is always the path we will choose. God sees this path – similarly to how I can guess what my best friend is going to do because I know her so well, God knows exactly what branch we are going to follow and then what fruit is going to come from that branch. That seems to add up, right? Makes sense? Now, here’s where it gets really fun, because God is still sovereign, right? He doesn’t just sit passively and watch us live our lives with a popcorn on His right and a Big Cola on His left. He is involved! Many times in the Word, God is referred to as the farmer, and farmers get to do this fun thing called grafting. Basically, they cut off the branch from one fruit tree and attach the branch of a different fruit tree in place of the one that was taken away. Nature is so cool, guys, that new branch will begin to grow into the tree and produce a hybrid fruit from this grafting process. God sees how our lives are going to go, but when we let Him come in as the farmer and tend to us, He grafts in newness and goodness and life for us to enjoy. We are hybrid creatures of soul and body, and in the same way, our farmer changes us and interacts with our choices as we allow Him to be part of our lives.
The Valley
This one came to me through my pastor from Philly – he gave an analogy similar to this during one of his sermons and it struck me like a ton of bricks. Holy Spirit was definitely using my pastor to reveal this word to me. It is about how God always works in suffering (big and small). Let me lay out a scene for you: Christians often think of these “mountaintop moments” where they are on a spiritual high and feel closer to God than ever. But, have you ever looked at a mountaintop? They’re ugly. There isn’t any life. Mountaintops are barren because there isn’t enough oxygen or nutrients for plant-life to grow. However, as you come down from the mountain, the snowcaps start to melt and bring fresh water into the valleys. It may be harder to trudge through the valley and you may not be on the high you were on at the top of the mountain, but there is so much life and growth in those valleys. All we learn during those mountaintop moments with our Lord is used to water the low moments that inevitably come, and your faith only gets tested and grown through those lows. Plus, you have to cross a valley in order to get to the next mountaintop, and from there you can enjoy the view of the growth that came out of that valley. Isn’t it SO GOOD that we have a God who works mightily in suffering? Who else does that?? He wants us and calls us valuable at our lowest and most vulnerable points
The Vessel
Last but certainly not least, we have the vessel. Holy Spirit actually revealed this one to me while I sat with a teammate last month talking about people blaming all sin on the enemy and what spiritual warfare looks like. The Word says that people are vessels, and if we are vessels, then that means we hold things. Hold that thought (lol). The Word also says that all good things come from God. So, any goodness we experience is the result of us letting God pour into our vessel. I’d also venture to say that the same could apply on the opposite side. All bad things are coming from the enemy pouring into us. (Btw, i like to say enemy because that encompasses Satan, his demons and anything contrary to the goodness of God) Now, this doesn’t take the responsibility away from us, because while those are the sources of good and bad, we have the choice of which fountain we want to put our vessel under. We have the choice of what we want to fill us, which voice we want to listen to. When we choose into Holy Spirit’s goodness, we see our natural overflow become love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. In the same way, when we choose into the voice of the enemy, our natural overflow becomes sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. As our vessels fill, they begin to overflow out the sides and into other vessels. The outside reflects the inside, or the heart, and the only way to reflect goodness is through choosing into the Author of goodness.
Just as I love getting to share ways God has given me images about Him, I also love to hear about the images He gives other people. What is an image our Lord has given you to help you better understand Him?
grace + peace
If you liked what you read here and feel led to partner with me on mission – please feel free to support me by praying for me, subscribing to this blog and by donating! I still need to raise about $4,000 to hit our total fundraising deadline – just click the orange donate button at the top of this page or check out my store.
