Monday, October 4, 2010

ONE BIG PUZZLE

I love doing jigsaw puzzles!!

My personal record – a 2,000 piece puzzle! (OK, I didn’t do it by myself…but still, two THOUSAND pieces!!!)

It’s funny how people work on puzzles differently.

My dad, the mechanical engineer, insists on finding the four corners first, then finishing the border, (“Look for all the straight edges…”), and then he proceeds to tackle the puzzle by looking at shapes.

I have a slightly different method. I agree with the four-corner idea, and then the border fill-in. But from there, I have a slightly more artistic way to approach things. I make all kinds of little piles of puzzle pieces that have the same pattern or color on them.

We’re all different…

I had a friend whose grandmother thought it was too easy doing jigsaw puzzles using the picture on the box. So, she would turn all the pieces upside-down, and put the puzzle together just by looking at the shapes!!

That might work with older puzzles, when the shapes were all different…a little harder with new puzzles that are machine-cut, and all the pieces look EXACTLY ALIKE!!!

But her method of “puzzle-putting-together” got me thinking…

What if I tried to do it that way?

I could see me finding pieces that “look” like they fit – only to discover that they don’tnot quite. I might be patient for a while, but then, in sheer frustration, instead of waiting and looking for the right piece, I might start “forcing” the issue.

“I just know this is the piece. It has to go in here. Look at this little twisty side – it matches this over here. It’s just got to fit. Here, maybe if I push a little harder…”

You get the picture? (No pun intended…)

This whole jigsaw puzzle idea has interesting spiritual lessons, I think.

How often do I try to solve the “jigsaw puzzle” of my life on my own? How often do I try to jam all the little pieces into the places where I think they fit? And if they don’t, how often do I try to force things to fit together “my” way? And then, if they still don’t fit, do I just throw my hands up in frustration and quit? Or do I sometimes sit with a broken puzzle piece in my hand, the remnant of all that forceful pushing?

Hmmm…

Is it just possible that I’m looking at the whole thing upside-down???

God sees the PICTURE, my friends – the COMPLETE picture!

He sees the pattern of the shapes, the nuances of the colors. He sees where the straight edges go. He sees how the pieces with twisty sides match up with others perfectly.

He sees the way the puzzle will look when it’s finally put together right.

A few posts ago, I talked about having heavenly perspective. Trying to look at things through God’s eyes. It’s something we have to practice, for sure. But the truth of the matter is this – we will never in this life have the FULL picture. God is the only One who has true Heavenly perspective.

So, why not trust the Lord, the Great Puzzle Master – the One who cut the original pieces, and sees the completed picture?

A life, ordered and connected, with ALL the pieces meshing together
JUST SO…

In a pattern He ordained…


Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:16)

“You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
(Mark 8:33)

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts…And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)




BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

7 comments:

  1. This is just spectacular, Sharon! What a perfect analogy. The thought of doing an actual jigsaw puzzle without the colors and the picture completely and utterly terrifies me...so shouldn't it terrify me when I try to do the same thing...*with my life*!? You've got me thinking this morning!

    I love that God sees our big picture. That he *created* our big picture! And this is a message I keep getting, from so many different sources. I'm am certain God is sending it to me personally. Thank you for your part in that! Hope you have a very, *very* blessed week!

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  2. Good morning, Sharon! I am a four-corner person, and I love your analogy.

    Oh, how many times have I tried to make all the pieces of my life fit together the way I think they should go only to find God is the only One with the wisdom to put everything in place.

    Yes, He has surely ordered our steps and planned all our days! How thankful I am for His merciful leadership!

    Beautiful post!!!

    Love,

    Andrea

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  3. Hi Sharon,

    Good analogy using puzzles. I know that I've had instances when I tried to force something to go my way; the results have never been successful for me. I want to trust the Lord in all aspects of my puzzled life, but I need to remember that only God knows the order.

    Blessings and peace.

    MTJ

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  4. Greetings -

    I agree...great piece (pun intended)

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  5. and what is neat about God is he uses different approaches in each of our lives depending on what he has ordained is best; some 4-corner, some border, some do a little bit of a pattern inside the puzzle, etc but the finished product is always wonderfully and fearfully made, like he has made us!!

    betty

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  6. And yet another perfect analogy! I start out as a four corner person. Then, I try to graduate to a side person. When I get to the complexities of the middle, I usually wait for the husband to finish it for me.

    Hmmm... pretty much how I solve most of my problems. Really.

    And yet, just as you say here, God does have a big picture in mind for me, and each piece fits "perfectly". It was kind of like that when the husband lost his job a while back. I wouldn't have thought that THAT piece fit where it seemed to be going. I was kind of looking for blue skies in that little corner. But in the end, that little piece of blackness is what makes that particular space really beautiful to me. Even now, still raw from it and without the benefit of time, I can see that that piece at that exact time and place, was part of God's big picture.

    Great post, yet again.

    And I have already visited my blog before coming here. (I'm eyebrow deep in reading for a woman's conference that I'm teaching...Help!)

    You made me LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH!!! I just need to hire you to write "the rest of the story". You are just so funny.

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  7. Jennie - Thanks for your kind comments. The reason I wrote this post is because God keeps sending ME this message, too!! "BIG PICTURE - Trust Him." I think it's just that simple! You have a great week, too.

    Andrea - Welcome, and thank you for your input. He has ordered our days, with wisdom and merciful kindness. Our part is to trust, trust, trust Him. (And stop forcing those pieces into where they DON'T belong!)

    MTJ - Glad you liked the analogy. I don't have success either when I go my own way. I really like how you put it: "I want to trust the Lord in all aspects of my puzzled life." It's giving me an idea for a poem, maybe. Hmmm...

    Sandra - You made me smile!! I love a well-placed pun. May God help you with your puzzle today!

    Betty - Yes, I also love how God individualizes His relationship with each one of us. I like how you allude to the fact that the puzzle can also be a good analogy for the Body of Christ. Each of us has a part to play, a puzzle piece that is completely necessary to the final picture!

    Debbie - I just loved what you had to say. It encouraged me to re-look at the "black" pieces in the puzzle - that they have a purpose, too. They give the picture depth. What a testimony you are to that truth! As always, I really appreciate your input.
    (p.s. What are you reading/teaching for the women's conference?)
    (p.p.s. - Just doing my part to add a little levity to your life...hopefully, sometimes it's BIG levity!! :)


    GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

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"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)