My grandmother always had a puzzle in progress when I went to visit. I enjoyed looking at the pieces and figuring out where they went to complete the picture. She taught me to start with the edge pieces or border. Then, we would work on different sections, sometimes moving from one to another, until the entire puzzle was completed. Matching colors and shapes, noticing the slight variations in hues or texture, getting frustrated when it seemed to stall and excited when a section we had been working on separate from the main puzzle would fit into place, the sense of accomplishment when the final piece was placed and the picture was complete, were all a part of the process of working together on a puzzle.
Lately, I’ve been contemplating the picture of my life. Thinking back over the years about what has been, and looking ahead wondering what will be. As I contemplate life, I think a jigsaw puzzle is a good analogy.
God Knows
Before we were born, Scripture tells us that God knew us (see Psalm 139:16 and Jeremiah 1:5). I believe that He knew all about us including the entire picture of our life. Have you ever tried to put together a jigsaw puzzle without the picture? It is substantially harder because you are guessing about what each little piece represents and how it connects to the others without direction.
The Lord placed a border around our life. A border gives us boundaries. These aren’t to limit us, but to provide security and safety. When we attempt to live outside of His boundaries (the instructions of His Word), we are outside of the design that He intended and the pieces will not fit together well. Our life will be a mess. But when we stay within His boundaries, our life will form a beautiful picture.
It is important to realize that God is the one putting together the puzzle of our life, not us. He has the picture, we don’t. If you are like me, you are prone to try to make things fit together based on your perspective and limited understanding. When God shows us a portion of the picture, we often want to grab the pieces of life around us and order them to fit that picture. Instead, we need to give Him the pieces and let Him put them in place.
We See In Part
Until that final piece of our life is in place, we are an incomplete picture. When I was 30, or even 40 years old, I thought that I knew so much about life, especially the picture of my life. Looking back, I realize just how little I understood and how very naive that I was (dare I say ignorant?).
The longer we live, the more of the picture of our life is seen. But even then, we may not understand how those pieces fit together with what is happening today or expected in the future.
God may be putting together a section of the puzzle that is disconnected from another section that He completed last year. It may feel like we are disjointed or out of sorts. Why did I have to live through that situation in the middle of everything else? It just doesn’t seem to fit. Since we don’t have the entire picture, it is impossible for us to know how it fits together until the Lord connects the adjoining pieces.
He may be adding a piece here and another over there. Putting together a few on this edge, then some in the middle. Random and seemingly disconnected events in life which will eventually fill in together creating the picture of our life.
Living In Him
In my experience, the one question that God rarely answers is, “Why?” It is not mine to know, or understand, the why’s of life. What is mine to know is Him. He’s too big and complicated to understand, but He is not too removed that we can’t know Him. In fact, He desires that we come into His presence and know Him intimately.
Absolutely, we need to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, and Lord. But there is more to a relationship with God than just knowing Jesus. He wants us to commune with Him; to talk, listen, and walk with Him in all of life. We need the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter, Teacher, and Counselor, guiding us each step of the way. We need to be secure in our identity as beloved children of the Father.
As I look back on the picture of my life and wonder about the future, I have a security in my relationship with the Lord. I don’t necessarily like all that I see, and certainly don’t know all that is yet to come, but that’s okay. I’m walking with my Abba. He loves me. He knows, so I don’t have to. I’m secure. How about you?
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