Directions to paradise.

I have spent my entire life loving analogies. I love when they are used to explain something to me that I can't quite grasp, and I frequently use them myself when trying to explain things to others. For some reason I have this idea that if you use something that a person can relate to, and you make an analogy for them, they will be able to better understand what you are trying to tell them and in the end, you will be able to better communicate with them. Sometimes it may be effective, while other times it might be a stretch that is way too out-there to ever really understand, but either way I continue using them.

If you talk to Rob he will second that somehow I have a way of making everything in life about architecture, skiing or careers- in my defense, its my way of relating to him and trying to get him to understand the mysteries of we who are known as women. Many times, a discussion in our relationship has quickly turned to "picture this: Bridger Bowl gets 16 inches of snow overnight, and you are so pumped to get in the slopes. You get to the resort and hop on the ski lift only to find out that..." 

Although I frequently get a confused look, I am often proud of how I have found a way to communicate in his language, and we usually come to an agreement that, yes- it does actually catch his attention after-all.

So with the obsessive usage of analogies in my life, you can imagine quite how moved I was this morning driving to work when I heard an analogy that hit home for me. Following in close second behind myself, pastors  tend to use this same communication method to hit home about Jesus, God, The Bible or other points that they believe are relevant to the many Christians they are trying to reach. Not all analogies I've heard in the church have been incredibly moving, but there are times where one stops me in my tracks and I can say "Yeah, I can relate to that... WOW!" This morning was one of them:

In this day-in-age nearly everyone has had some sort of experience with a GPS. You punch in where you want to go, it figures out where you are, and calculates the best route to get there. It prompts you with directions telling you when to turn, where to turn and-if you have the most recent version- when you are going too fast. The GPS has one mission, to get you to your destination. Never does it falter, it is always steadily guiding you. And if, by mistake or by your own choosing, you take a wrong turn, it simply recalculates another route you can take to reach the same desired destination. God is much like a GPS. His desired destination for all of his children is eternity with him. He wants us to have a personal relationship with him, to call him daddy, to talk to him daily. When we decide to live by his direction, he plans a route for us from right where we are at to reach his desired destination. He patiently, calmly and gently prompts us along this route- and if we make a wrong turn, he simply re-calculates, planning for us a new route to reach the same desired destination. 

How beautiful. We have a GPS for our lives if we choose to turn It on and listen to It.

Whether analogies are your thing or, like my boyfriend, you are entirely analogied-out, it is easy to see the beauty in this perfectly painted picture. We are never wandering without direction in our life to an unknown destination. We have a compass, and a guide and the most beautiful destination possible.