The Puzzle Pieces of Life | April 22nd, 2021

The Rocky Mountains are one of the most soul-satisfying places to hike this side of heaven. There is so much to take in of God’s creation with the smell of pine in the air, the sound of a rushing creek, the feel of crisp, clean air in your lungs, and the bluest sky imaginable. 

During an invigorating Colorado hike, I noticed the unique bark on a nearby Ponderosa Pine. Its grooves divided the surface into what looked just like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I had never seen anything quite like it!

I don’t have near enough patience myself, but I have always admired people who can work diligently to put a puzzle together with hundreds of pieces. It reminds me of the incredible patience God has to put all the pieces of our life together, even when we resist His lead and go our own way thinking surely we know better! 

Did you know, the way that a jigsaw puzzle is manufactured is very similar to the way you were created?

Before the puzzle pieces can be cut out, the idea is first drawn by hand. It is then analyzed by the design team before approval. Next, it is uploaded onto a computer where all of the fine details are examined with exact precision. Everything is perfect in the eyes of the designer before production begins. Each cut of the puzzle is unique and represents a very small portion of the big picture but is able to interlock with the pieces surrounding it. Once it is all assembled, it produces the complete picture. 

God had you “drawn up” in His mind before you were ever even formed in your mother’s womb. Every detail about you was thought of with love and considered perfect in His eyes before He brought the precise egg and sperm together out of the many to create you. Once you were born, there would be several more pieces forming the puzzle to make the complete picture of who you are today. 

The puzzle pieces of your life are your experiences – some are positive and joyful while others are incredibly heartbreaking and filled with pain. Each one, however, is completely unique and has value. None are worthless because they are all needed to tell your story to make the puzzle complete. It may feel like you have lots of scattered pieces that seem impossible to fit together to make something good of it, but thankfully that’s not your job. God is the One to make them all interlock perfectly to create beauty in your life. 

We don’t always understand how they all fit together and we may not until we get to our eternal Home in heaven. That’s why we need to trust God. He is our Creator who knows us intimately and has a beautiful purpose and design for our life. He doesn’t expect us to lock those puzzle pieces into place by ourself. Our ability and understanding of everything is so limited! It must be God who makes everything fit together for His glory. 

If the pieces of your life seem to be in disarray, you may be trying too hard to fit them together yourself. Trust God to see what you aren’t able to see, to fix what you cannot fix, and to change what is impossible for you to change. Just as every jigsaw puzzle comes with an instruction manual, you were also given one in the form of God’s Word. It teaches you everything you need to know about having a right relationship with Him so there are no scattered pieces. When the picture is complete, it reflects a life that is fully yielded to God who makes all things work together for good. 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Kimberly Moore is a blogger, speaker, and author of Beauty in a Life Repurposed and Kingdom Sparkle. To learn more, visit her website at kingdomsparkle.com.

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