X is for xenolith
A good analogy is invaluable. A weak analogy is as useful as a sandbox in the desert. In the spirit of the A-Z Challenge we have arrived at the letter X. My apologies in advance for the stretch.
Xenolith is a rock fragment foreign to the igneous rock in which it is embedded. In Greek it means foreign rock. When hot lava is cooling it picks up other rocks. Check out Mudpuddles to Meteors to learn more about xenolith rocks.
Lava represents this world. You may feel crushed by the trials of this world. They may 
feel so much a part of you that you have no way of escape. The good news is you are xenolith. You are not of this world! “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phil. 3:20.
You are not defined or destroyed by whatever is crushing you. Your true identity is in God – the rock from which you were carved. “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; Is. 51:1
Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Stand firm, my friend. This world is not our home. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 8:39
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:7-8, 16-18
Not a stretch at all… one of my favorites! I learned a new word, I was reminded of my citizenship, and because it was such a unique analogy, I’m not like to forget it. It’s actually a perfect comparison because the world can crush us too, just like the rocks get crushed together. But, due to [God’s] strength, the crushed rock doesn’t become what crushed it. Pretty cool.