The Puzzle

            My lack of patience is a strong deterrent to finishing a puzzle.  Looking at all those disjointed pieces makes my head swim in confusion.  How do I know which one to pick up next?  If it doesn’t connect to the pieces I already have put together, I can’t make it fit; so what do I do with it until its turn comes?  I have to put it aside and will probably pick it up another hundred times before I find where it actually goes.

            Lack of patience can also be a deterrent to finishing well in life.  We have hopes, dreams and promises from God that go along with the whole of our lives, but too often we try to make them fit where they don’t belong.  It’s not that they are not a part of the puzzle.  We just need to connect a few more pieces together before their spot will be ready.  We have to leave that confusing pile of pieces in God’s hands, and simply work with the one that fits where we are right now.  We don’t have to worry about the pieces that haven’t found their place to connect yet.  God has already taken care of that.

            The puzzle of my life has many pieces, yet it is just one small piece in the puzzle of God’s purpose for the ages.  The pieces of the past are already in place.  I will take my place to ultimately join the past with the future.  As I do, I fit into the pieces already in place behind me.  They form the anchor with which I connect and I will become the anchor for those pieces yet to be placed.

            God’s puzzle started with time at creation and will go on until the end of time.  He has always had those who would hear Him and obey Him, so the puzzle is constantly being worked on from dispensation to dispensation, from year to year.  Those who allow Him to design them to fit will become part of His whole grand purpose.

            It takes many pieces all around us to complete the work.  The generation before us reaches to take our hands and close the gap between us.  Then we must reach out to the next generation to finish our part of the puzzle with no missing pieces.  It doesn’t happen all at once.  It comes together piece by piece. 

[Just a little note of encouragement to all the impatient people:  Relax!  If we allow God to hand us each piece of our life’s puzzle one at a time, everything will turn out just fine!]