This weekend my girls and I have been "snowed in"... I must admit I have enjoyed every minute of it! We have been able to do things we normally don't get to do. Like play dominoes. Like eat every meal at home. Like talk about the first chapter of a book we are reading as a family. Like sledding. Like watch TV. Like put together a puzzle...It has been great. Really great.
And so about that "puzzle time". I have to be "in the mood" for a puzzle. I have to be up to the challenge. And for you puzzle enthusiasts, don't get crazy- this was only a 60 piecer! I like to be able to take it out of the box, spread the pieces out and put it back together as soon as possible; therefore, I purchased a 60 piecer. And The Bible tells us to be faithful with the small, right?
After we completed the task of putting this puzzle together, we each had a sense of accomplishment. We were able to see the finished product, the beautiful picture that all the pieces together had made.
Since that moment, I've been thinking how life can be kinda puzzling at times. I thought back through the process of putting that puzzle together and here are some of my thoughts and conclusions.
The puzzle had a designer, a creator. This is the person who knew what the finished product would be and created that. This person was in charge of making the entire picture, then had to cut it into small pieces so that it would fit into the box, hence it becoming a puzzle.
I realized putting together the outter edges of the puzzle was the easiest part. Those pieces just kinda fell into place simply because of the way they were made, having the same straight edge.
Other pieces were a little more difficult to find where they belonged. I would search based on whether the outer edges matched up or not, sometimes that worked. Sometimes I would just try to put the piece into every open piece of the outer edge just to see if it would fit, kind of putting it together half-hazardly. But, when all else failed and I still couldn't figure out where it fit, I would pick up the box. I would look at the completed picture pasted to it and then I would be able to see where the piece fit in. Over and over we used one of these strategies, until the puzzle was put together. The picture was completed in its fullness and it was beautiful just like the picture on the outside of the box.
So how does this relate to you and me and this puzzle we call life?
You and I also have a Master Designer, a Creator. Standing outside of time, God, the One who thought of it all, looked into time and created beautiful ones to fulfill His purpose, His plan, to bring His heavenly Kingdom to this earthly place He desired to live in. He saw the entire picture, whole and completed and created that. With every thought, there was a new creation, a new creature. That would be me. That would be you.
Then we also had to enter this earth in a kind of box, if you will, that we call a baby, a newborn, a precious little one. A brand new life, a baby who just likes to cry and eat and poop. Really, that's all we know how to do at the time so who can blame us for just crying and eating and pooping?
But then we grow. The box gets opened and the pieces get scattered onto the table we call lifespan. We keep growing. The outer pieces of our puzzle start falling into place, little by little. The outer shell of the picture comes into sight.
Then, at some point we begin to realize there's a whole bunch of things inside of us that may still be a little scattered. There's something in us that begins to wonder how all the pieces we see fit together.
And then we realize that Our Master Designer put a piece in us that causes us to desire Him, His plan for the whole picture, His purposes. We either choose to put that piece where it belongs and choose to recognize Him as our Creator, our Master Designer, or we choose to ignore that most important piece and go on with trying to put the scattered pieces in their places ourselves, in our strength, with our own plans. When we choose the former, we trust the One who sees and knows the complete picture. When we choose the latter, we sadly begin to create a picture that we ourselves think is best, what we would call beautiful.
What I've come to trust and believe is that our Master Designer is good. He is a good, good God. And you and I are loved by Him. He is a really great Creator and His Designs are flawless in His hands when we allow Him to carefully place each piece of our puzzled where they belong. But too often we try to pick up the pieces ourselves and we panic when we can't find where they belong. We have to sometimes daily, moment by moment even, remind ourselves that when we trust our Creator to put the pieces together that He isn't just half-hazardly checking to see where our gifts and talents, our desires, our life events and circumstances even, fit into this earthly existence; but He is looking at the entire picture. He is looking at His completed work, His plan and purpose fulfilled. He is still thinking that thought from the beginning of time and sees it in its fullness. He knows exactly where every piece fits into His beautiful creation.
I talk about this today and I don't know what your puzzle may look like. I don't know what pieces may have already beautifully found their places, giving you a small glimpse of who you are in His eyes. And I don't know the piece you may be holding up to heaven, looking at all the edges trying to figure out where it might fit in, or even questioning whether it was supposed to be a part of your puzzle or not. I simply sit here with the hope that we will lay the piece down and stop trying to figure its place out for ourselves thus putting our soul into a state of panic. We will choose to trust Him and to wait on Him and believe that He will make it all fit together. To know that He is looking at His beautiful masterpiece, even when we see scattered pieces of a big puzzle. And to believe that He is making all things beautiful in its time.
Choose to trust Him. Choose to know Him. Choose to believe Him and His infinite plan. Choose to lay that piece down that brings confusion, lay down that piece that came out of nowhere. Lay down that piece you want to throw away into the abyss. Lay down the piece you don't even like to hold onto. Lay it down. Just lay it down. Because when you do; when I do; the Master Designer can pick it up. He can put it in its place. He can make it fit into the beautiful picture He saw before time began, the beautiful thought that was on His mind when He created you. When He created me. That is my prayer and hope for you and me today.
Trusting in the Master Designer, My Creator, the Great Puzzle Solver,
Lenee
