Puzzles, Missing Pieces and the Bigger Picture

Lately, I have been reflecting on how my life is similar to a puzzle.  Weird, I know, but hear me out.  One thing I am extremely confident of is  that God knows everything from the beginning to the end of my life.  If he were to be blindfolded, He could put together all the pieces of my life without even needing to pause.  I know that He can and will lead me from where I am now to all that He has planned for my future.

This should be enough for me.  Here’s the problem I have.  It seems that at various moments of my life God has given me glimpses into the future He has planned for me.  He has placed before me pieces of the puzzle.  It could be in the form of a burning desire in my heart or a dream I have.  It could be through words that have been spoken over me and confirmed on various occasions.  Whatever it is, I know it’s a piece of the puzzle.  So, like any good toddler would do, I mistakenly assume that the 5 or ten pieces that are before me represent the entire picture.  I try to piece them together on my own.  I look at the missing gaps in the picture and try to jam pieces where they don’t belong.  If I had a pair of scissors, I would probably cut off the edges until the pieces could pass for the right ones.  Can anyone relate to this?

Here’s what God is teaching me through all of this: I’m not old enough to put together this puzzle on my own.  On the side of the box printed somewhere, I’m sure it says parental supervision required.  God never intended for me to try to put any of this together on my own.  His desire is to sit with me and day by day put each piece in it’s intended spot, as I marvel at the work of His hands.  God has a method and a strategy for putting our puzzles together.  Some days you have to put the middle pieces aside so that you can work on the border.  Other days, you work on the blue pieces and the next day on the green ones.  God has a purpose in what seems to us like madness.

One day we will look back at our lives and realize that God’s bigger picture for us was far greater than anything we could have come up with on our own.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)

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