Puzzling About Things

   A lot of the time it seems as if my life is one large (or small) jigsaw puzzle, with most of the pieces still in the box or scattered around in various places waiting to be put in the proper place.

   So, it seemed appropriate the other day, that a friend (?) loaned to me a puzzle that they had received as a Christmas present. A one thousand piece one that would measure about 3 feet by 2 feet when (and if) completed.

   It was fairly easy to get the border in place (except for one piece that refused to be found). That is a straightforward process. Even my next door neighbor, who confessed to being color blind, said he could do that much, but then there were so many pieces left, that even the sorting of them into colors and distinguishing lines was not easy.

   So, where there were features like the green window shutters, I tried to get all those pieces together and assembled into something that I could place into the overall frame in their approximate position. After I had something, anything, I could begin to try the process of building around what I had and enlarging it so that eventually it would connect somewhere else.

   Isn't that the way it is with life?

   I take the life I am living at the moment and attempt to attach some other pieces to it, things that seem good and helpful and that God seems to be pushing in my direction.

   I think about the people and situations that He brings into my life. How do they fit? What is He pointing out that will help me to grow more into His likeness and do the work that He has planned for me?

   If I get up in the early morning, before the sun rises, what do I hear in the semi-darkness, what things does my mind get into?

   When I read my Bible, what is He pointing out? How does this act of reading and thinking make any difference in the way that I live?

   But it is not in just completing the whole puzzle, it is taking and using the parts of it that are shown at any given time. God has an overall plan for my life, but He also expects me to follow the paths he has shown for any given time or situation.

   The individual pieces of a large puzzle may be indistinct, but when placed together and locked into place, show what the author intended, and we can tell that we got those parts in the right place.

   The key is beginning with the basics and then adding those pieces that fit in.

   A larger picture emerges.

   I pray that my life will be about seeking God's plan pieces and fitting them into a life that has His Service as my goal.

   And I don't need to wait until the whole thing is completed to be using the parts that He has shown.

   Depend on Him to point out the pieces as needed.

   It will work out in the end…

       And, as I look at the box, I notice that the Puzzle title is..

                Contentment

      Coincidence?