The Puzzle

While I was vacuuming, God spoke a word-picture to me of how I have been acting in many situations that really convicted me and I hope it will speak to you as well.

I saw my life as an intricate puzzle. Parts of the puzzle were put together and were taking on shape and meaning, but there were thousands of pieces that seemed to have no meaning or purpose at all in themselves and some even seemed ugly to me.

My Father had had carved each piece be in a specific place to make a perfect picture that would fulfill his perfect, holy will and be the very best for me, but as I began working on this puzzle of my life, I found myself doing three things that hit me like a lighting bolt.

First, I found myself taking random bits of cardboard, paper or whatever I could find from the trashcan to paste with clue and tape to the pieces that I could not seem to find a place to fit. By adding tad bits and they fit “just fine” into the will of God. After all I was still using God’s pieces, in God’s will, right?

Second, I began chopping corners off pieces with scissors to make them fit. After all, from my perspective they did not seem to have much beauty in themselves anyway. I found that for some pieces it did not even take much cutting and editing to fit perfectly into the puzzle of the will of God. This seemed like a quick fix to this time consuming project. I did not even notice that I was cluttering the puzzle picture with pieces of paper, cardboard and drops of clue. These even began covering the parts of the puzzle that had already been put together correctly. Of course, none of the pieces added anything to the look of the picture but created a chaotic, disjointed mass of random pieces and trash. I start adding beads, scraps of pictures and other “decorations” to cover the cardboard and even the perfect, pieces of the puzzle in an attempt to make it “pleasing to God”.

Finally, I started taking pieces from other puzzles and trying to create a picture within the puzzle of God’s perfect will. I found pieces that fit together and were actually making a picture and these pieces were much easier to fit in then the ones in God’s puzzle were, but…it was extremely ugly and grotesque. It should have made me cringe at its repulsive features, but instead I thought it was a tremendous feat because I was fitting pieces together in the “will of God!”

That really humbled me and shed a lot of light on my life. God has given me all the pieces to make a perfect puzzle that bring Him glory by modeling Him, but to save time, effort and pain I try to add and take away from God’s will given my in his Word and by his Holy Spirit and even make my own pictures within his puzzle.

Lord, you are the Potter. I am the clay. Mold me and shape me into the perfect image of your Son. Show me where each piece of my life fits. My perspective is so small that I cannot even see the whole picture. I can only see tiny portions of what you are doing, but you, my Daddy see all of my picture and how it fits into the body of Christ, so I surrender my mind and heart for you to order and conform to your holiness.