Analogy Alert!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm something of an analogy junkie. I just think like that. With analogies, you're basically saying that if something is true in this area, it may also be true in that area.

Here's an example of the way my mind works. When I worked at Yahoo, I got a call from a customer who figured she deserved a refund because she hadn't used the service for which she was being billed. Most people would point such a person to the terms of service or something along those lines that nobody reads, and certainly nobody understands. However, the way my mind works, I took this route instead:

Do you have cable TV? Yes? Ok, then imagine calling your cable company and asking for a refund for the last month because you didn't watch TV.Think they'll give it to you?

She laughed and got the point. Problem solved.

With that as our foundation, I offer you an analogy of where I find myself these days. There are people I know who seem to just have life and God figured out much better than I do. I often wonder if they are just smarter and better than most, or if I'm just stupid.

Don't answer that.

But here's what I think. People with a certain level of life experiences, those who have "been there, done that", have a keener perspective than one can acquire by simply reading it in a book or even hearing in a sermon. Here comes the analogy:We're all very familiar with this logo. We've seen it a bazillion times. Something I hadn't noticed about this logo for several years was the arrow. Can you see it? No? Well, at some point in my life, someone pointed it out to me, and now I can't help but see it. It's so obvious to me that I can't believe I couldn't see it at one time. It almost glows, it's so obvious

Give up? Maybe this will help:
Ok, here's where I'm going with all this. Sometimes we go through things in our lives where we just can't see God at work. It's frustrating. We feel abandoned. We feel like we're all alone when we need God the most. Sometimes, we just need someone to just point Him out to us. Then, when situations come up in the future, we practically can't help but see Him in the midst of it.

I find myself in this particular place. I have been living in an unusually intense period of faith over the past couple of months. Just one month ago, I was still packing and saying my goodbyes in San Jose. I still didn't have a tangible reason for leaving the town, the church and the people I love. And yet, I was packing up and leaving the comfort of "home" for a new place where I knew almost no one. I had no roots there. No particular thing or group to get involved in to assimilate myself into a new community.

As I listed in my previous post, a lot has happened in a short time. However, I'm still far from being completely comfortable and established where God has led me. But I have a strange peace in the midst of it. Though there are certain areas which are tapping on my brain like Chinese water torture, I can see God in the midst of it. The pressure isn't on me. I have to participate in the process. I mean, I couldn't just sit at home and expect a great church to just call me up and ask me to get involved. I had to get up, go there, find people and make myself known. But promotion comes from God.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"

~Jeremiah 29:11-13

Once we learn to recognize what He looks like, what His work looks like, what WE are like in the midst of these trials, we can't help but find Him at work!