Scraps

As a kid growing up I remember my family putting puzzles together to help us pass the long winter months.  We also did them for relaxation on summer vacations.  You can image my excitement when I found a puzzle app for my Kindle.  Recently, I downloaded a set of mystery puzzles; ones without a reference picture to guide the placement of the pieces.

Without the image, you must rely on grouping  pieces together of similar color and then assembling them through trial and error.  The subject of the puzzle unfolds like a mystery as more and more pieces are put together.  

As the image gradually becomes known, there is a beauty that comes from combining the pieces. Individual pieces may have interesting characteristics, but it is the assembled group that creates an identity.  My latest puzzle is a human portrait.  As I worked on the puzzle I began to reflect on how beautifully and wonderfully human beings are made.

So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he create them.  Genesis 1:27 NLT

I also thought about how life often seems to be revealed to me like a puzzle.  Which path should I take?  Why is this or that happening to me?  What will my life be like ten years from now?  What seems to me like pieces being grouped together by trial and error is in reality part of a grand design.  The events, places and people God uses to shape my life come together one by one like pieces of a puzzle. My portrait will not be complete until the last piece is placed, which I suppose could equate to my last breath.  If that is the case, I shouldn’t fret over the missing pieces.  I have come to the realization that I am noticed by others because of who I am, not because of any missing pieces.

I would encourage you to trust God as he adds pieces to your puzzle.  He holds the reference picture needed to guide the placement of the pieces.  The end result will be a complete masterpiece made ready for the eternity God has prepared.

Jesus told her [Martha], ” I am the resurrection and the life.  Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”  John 11:25 NLT