Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge

Romans 5:3-4 – We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (NIV)

My daughters and I were working on a very complicated jigsaw puzzle. It was no ordinary puzzle. To begin, we read a short, suspenseful two-page "thriller" for clues (in "read-in-the-mirror" writing). We were then to assemble the puzzle and search for hidden clues, and then finish off by solving the mystery with the clues from the first two steps. The warning on the box read, "Beware! The puzzle image is not what you see on the box!" This was going to be a challenge!

As is our custom when working puzzles, we first completed the frame of edge pieces. Then the tricky work began — we had to put the pieces in place without a "final product" picture to follow. Each piece belonged in a particular space, and did not fit anywhere else — no matter how we might try to manipulate the pieces. And we tried that, often — without much success.

We persevered for many days, doing a little bit at a time. We took "baby steps"; we made giant leaps forward. All the manoeuvring of the pieces came to the fruition of our goal — a totally finished puzzle. The puzzle picture was revealed to us!

Have there been times when your Christian walk has felt like a puzzle without a visible solution? I've been there!

The girls and I had to have patience; we had to take our time. We had to have faith that the three of us working together could put the seemingly unrelated pieces together in a semblance of order that would reveal the truth and the completion of the puzzle, for us.

God is with us, leading us, directing us, as we seek to learn more about Him and our life with Him. Each portion and piece of our life has a place where the fit is perfect, and we can finally understand what the message or solution from God is.

Thanks be to God for His wonderful plan for each of us. Thank God for eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to help, and hearts full of patience and love.

Prayer: Lord, You have been our guide through all the days of our lives. Help us to continue to see where we fit in, in Your plan, doing Your work and Your will in the world. Amen.

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