“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works and that my soul knows very well. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:14, 16

Life is Like a Puzzle

I have always loved to work jigsaw puzzles. When I was employed full time I only allowed myself to work on a puzzle once a year during my extended Christmas break, then it was put away for another year. Well, since “retirement” I’ve made up for lost time! I now have a card table set up in our front room by a huge window which holds a puzzle in progress available for me to work on anytime I choose. I can now enjoy it, no longer having to finish it within a certain time period.

I was thinking that life is kind of like a puzzle. Can you imagine how confusing, frustrating, hopeless, and joyless working on a puzzle would be without the picture on the box to go by?

Before I became a Christian, my life was pretty much like working on a puzzle without the picture on the box. I had all these random pieces (circumstances, emotions, relationships, etc.) that didn’t make sense to me and I had no idea (or power) of how to accept or deal with them. Needless to say, I was often confused, frustrated, hopeless and joyless.

Oh, what a difference when I was born again and became a new creation in Christ! Like a brand new puzzle, I am now complete in Him (Colossians 2:10), but “some assembly is required!” As in life, each puzzle piece is necessary: every size, shape and shade. I may not like the dark pieces (or difficult seasons in my life), but each one is designed to make me into the image of His Son. (This is known as the sanctification process.)

As I continue in His Word, one day at a time, He reveals Himself to me and calls me to walk in all of His ways. I come to know Him, love Him, and obey Him, and He in turn uses me to reveal His love to a dying and hopeless world, not only for my good but for His glory and honor.

Each one of us is a necessary part of His body, and our Creator has made us unique and different from one another in appearance, giftings, callings and function. Psalm 33:15 says, “He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.” Therefore, we mustn’t covet or compare our life with someone else’s life (the picture on their box).

Lord, we may be confused at times about how all the pieces of our lives fit together, but we can trust that You will complete the good work You have begun in us, for we are Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which You prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen!