Finding Your Life Metaphor
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“The way you see your life shapes your life.”
This powerful opening line from Chapter 5 of The Purpose Driven Life was wildly eye opening. As I worked through this chapter titled “Seeing Life from God’s View,” I found myself confronting a question I’d never really considered: How do I actually view my life?
The Metaphor That Defines You
Warren poses a fascinating challenge in this chapter: if he asked you how you picture your life, what image would come to your mind? That image, he explains, is your life metaphor- and it’s more powerful than you might realize.
I experienced this firsthand during a recent conversation with a peer who described their life as a video game, complete with levels to conquer and achievements to unlock. He said running errands are like subtasks to the large game and I could instantly see it playing out! Their roommate, they shared, saw life as a sitcom where everything somehow works out with perfect comedic timing.
When they asked me the same question, I was completely stumped. What metaphor captured my life? The question haunted me all day until I finally arrived at my answer:
My life is like a Mosaic River.
“My life flows like a quiet river-steady, reflective, and shaped by the hand of God. The waters may appear calm, but beneath the surface is a mosaic of stories: fragments of culture, seasons of healing, splashes of joy, lessons in love, and grace pieced together with intention. Every current carries purpose. Every shard, every smooth stone, has a place. And through the journey winds, the source is holy and the destination is certain.”
Challenging Conventional Wisdom
Warren makes a crucial point in this chapter: to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives, we must be willing to challenge conventional wisdom and replace it with biblical metaphors. He references Romans 12:2, encouraging us not to let the world shape our thinking, but to let God transform our minds through renewal.
This isn’t just philosophical- it’s practical. How you define life determines your destiny and influences how you invest your time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships.
God’s Three- Part View of Life
Warren peasants God’s perspective on life through three key metaphors that revolutionize how we should see our existence. Two of these three perspectives are covered in this chapter:
Life is a Test
Every single day presents us with tests designed to develop and reveal our character. Warren explains that we’re constantly being tested through our response to people, problems, success, conflict, illness, disappointment- even something as mundane as the weather.
The tests come in many forms: major changes, delayed promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayer, underserved criticism, and senseless tragedies. Warren notes that God tests our faith through problems, our hope through how we handle possessions, and our love through people.
What struck me deeply was Warren’s insight that God sometimes intentionally withdraws from us, just as He did with King Hezekiah, to test what’s really in our hearts. This perspective has helped me reframe many of my own challenging seasons.
Life is a Trust
Warren emphasized that we are stewards of whatever God gives us. Drawing from Scripture, he reminds us that the earth belongs to the Lord and everything in it. This means we don’t truly own anything- we’re managers of God’s gifts.
This perspective creates a shift in our thinking. While culture teaches “if you don’t own it you won’t take care of it,” Warren presents the Christian standard as saying: “Because God owns it, I must take the best care of it that I can.”
Warren uses Jesus’s parable of the talents to illustrated this principle, showing how faithfulness in small matters leads to greater trust and responsibility. The question becomes: Can we be trusted with what God has given us?
My Current Test
As I reflect on Warren’s teachings, I realize I’m currently in the middle of a significant test. My family recently moved from a 1,400 square foot townhouse to a 950 square foot apartment as we pursue a Kingdom-centered business. Everyday brings new challenges.
The building is old, things break down regularly, and my patience, focus, and determination are being stretched daily. For too long, I believed that testing meant I was being punished- that life was more about suffering than trust but this chapter has helped me understand that tests are opportunities for growth, changes to deepen character, demonstrate love, and depend on God.
This season feels like preparation for something larger, where these challenges will become part of my testimony rather than just my trial.
My Greatest Trust
When I consider Warren’s teaching about life as a trust, the greatest matter God has entrusted to me is clear: raising my children. Following Provers 22:6 to train them up in the way they should go represents the ultimate stewardship.
This responsibility humbles me and shaped every decision I make. I’m not just stewarding resources or opportunities- I’m stewarding lives that will impact future generations.
The Reward of Perspective
Warren quotes James 1:12 which promises that God takes not and makes plans to reward us in eternity for every time we pass a test. It states that “Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” This eternal perspective changes how we view present difficulties.
Your Life Metaphor Matters
This chapter challenged me to examine not juts what I believe about life, but how I actually view it day by day. Your life metaphor matters because it shapes everything- how you respond to challenges, handle blessings, love others, and prepare for eternity.
As I continue working through The Purpose Driven Life, this chapter stands out as particularly evolutionary. It forced me to move beyond surface-level thinking about my circumstance and consider the deeper the deeper purposes God may have in every season of my life.
What’s your life metaphor? More importantly, how does your currently perspective align with God’s view of life as a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment?
Warren’s wisdom reminds us that the way we see our lives truly does shape our lives. The question becomes: Whose perspective are we choosing to embrace- the world’s or God’s?
The answer to that question might just change everything.
