Puzzle Pieces

There are two things that I love to do when (if) I have spare time: read books and put puzzles together. Over the summer I read 17 books! It was awesome - now since school has started, I am struggling to finish #18 because of time. However, that did not stop me from opening a new puzzle that I bought this summer and spreading the pieces out on the dining room table (that's what a dining room table if for, right?). 

As I opened the box and began sorting through the pieces, my mind began to think of how much like a puzzle our own lives are. We want the picture on the box. The beautiful tapestry that fits together nicely, that is whole with clean edges and perfect lines. But what we often get is much different. We open the box of life to find that it is messy and broken and sometimes overwhelming. 

As we are sorting the pieces, we get glimpses of the beautiful picture we are striving for. Little tidbits of wholeness that keep us moving toward the ultimate goal of completion. Other times we stand sifting the pieces between our fingers wondering why we can't find that missing piece. And often we try to fit pieces into spaces where they don't belong. The key, though, is perseverance. 

Through perseverance we are able to see the completed picture. We are able to continue putting the pieces together until the beauty surfaces and our picture is realized. The more we work at it, the more we are attuned to the colors, patterns and shapes of the pieces. Soon we start seeing pieces that fit different sections even though we were looking for a specific part. 

This is what happens when we take our broken pieces to our Father. There will still be times when we stare at the chaos and wonder how we will ever be whole again, we will replay events (pieces) over-and-over in our minds wondering why we can't change a situation, or we try to make things happen our way. Remember trying to force pieces into places they don't belong? But the more we are known to God, the more we will see glimpses of the beauty that is yet to come. He will show us the pieces of the puzzle, even when we are searching for something else. 

So, persevere my friends! Keep sorting through those pieces so that you can see the picture that God has in store, the beautiful puzzle He has created called you.