Have you ever felt like your life resembles a puzzle? Random pieces scattered everywhere. There are odd shaped pieces with only a tiny snippet of the big picture on the box.
I love to do puzzles! These days I do them mostly on my computer. From Sudoku and word puzzles, to jigsaw puzzles, I love them all.
As I was doing a jigsaw puzzle on my computer one night, God began speaking to me. He wanted to teach me some lessons about life through my puzzle adventures.
The jigsaw puzzle app I have on my computer has a neat feature that I love. When a piece is in the correct position, it clicks into place and you can’t move it. Almost as if to announce, this is the place I was designed to go. As I am working on the puzzles, I often try to position a piece where I am positive it should go. An example of this is the puzzle picture on the left. The piece on the outside of the puzzle was the one I was having trouble getting to fit where I thought it should go. I had placed the adjoining pieces to the right, top and bottom of where I was confident it would fit, but it did not click in. However, when I put the other remaining piece to the left of that spot, the final piece clicked right into place and the picture was completed!
Sometimes our lives can feel like a puzzle. For example, let’s take a vision or dream we may have for our life. We have this picture of what we want it to look like, but all you can see are odd shaped pieces of your dream yet nothing seems to fit together. Just like with a jigsaw puzzle, you need to start looking at the pieces and a way to organize them. If you are like me, you start with the absolutes, like corners and edges to get the outline. Next, you separate the pieces into similar shapes, colors or themes and work from there.
Like a puzzle, God gives each of us pictures through dreams, visions, and desires that are a part of His plan for us…part of our destiny. When we embrace the vision or dream, a strong desire wells up in our heart. We can often try to make pieces of our puzzle fit into a spot that will not click into place. This can be because either, it was never designed to go where we are trying to put it, or the timing is not just YET! What I’ve learned is that the puzzle pieces of our lives were created with a master plan and order. Often times, something else in His divine plan has to fit into place first before the next piece of our destiny is ready to be set into motion.
Father God knows what He is doing; He has the road mapped out for us and knows what needs to happen next in our lives. If we try to make something happen before it is time, we will force into place something that can easily be moved or shaken out of place. It may even change the picture God originally created for our life.
Sometimes my thought life is often my biggest challenge. Thoughts! I can feel like they are puzzle pieces floating around above my head. I try to reach out to grasp them and make them fit together. I found that scripture has really helped me to align my thoughts. Here are four I would like to share with you from The Passion Translation:
2 Corinthians 10:5 – We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.
Psalm 51:10– Create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you.
Psalm 94:19– Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control, the soothing comfort of your presence calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight.
Philippians 4:8 – So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.
My husband and I are walking through this right now as we look to purchase a new home and I take steps to begin a new recording project. My thoughts seem scattered … like puzzle pieces and my impatience to see my dreams fulfilled could cause me to rush into something that won’t be the right fit. However, when I choose to soak in the presence of God, delight in Him, take prisoner my thoughts, insisting they bow in obedience to the Anointed One … then my anxious thoughts are changed. Now I can listen to hear His thoughts and plans for me. I can then rest knowing things will fall into place the way God designed them too. I want all the puzzle pieces of my life to fit in the order He designed, so they cannot be moved out of place by anything the devil tries to throw at me.
If something in your life doesn’t seem to be fitting into place, don’t despair. Ask Father
God to show you if the piece you are trying to place in the picture is part of His plan for your life. Perhaps He has something else planned for you right now before this piece is ready for its place. God’s plans are perfect for each of us and will fit together wonderfully to form a beautiful, complete picture … in His time!
Note: A HUGE thank you to Zoë Monserrate for her amazing editing job on this blog.
