Hope When Life is Puzzling

Recently, I have tackled a more difficult version of a hobby I’ve had since I was a child: jigsaw puzzles.

You would think that a puzzle of a certain silly old bear and his friends would be rather simple, but it is anything but. Not only is it 1,000 small pieces, it is full of similar colors and patterns which take a skilled eye in matching together.

A wiser person than I would probably put the pieces back in the box and race the offending puzzle to the nearest thrift store. But something in me has to “crack this code.”

Maybe putting puzzles together has taught me some things: 1. You can’t force it. If a piece goes in, it goes in; no amount of force can make it fit when it doesn’t. 2. Usually start with the outside pieces, but if that’s too hard, focus on the most identifiable parts, 3. It’s a process, and it’s the journey getting there that matters, even when it makes you want to pull your hair out.

Another reason I keep trying is because deep down, I hope that by figuring out this twelve-year old puzzle, I can somehow figure out some of the vexing questions of my life.

Most importantly, though, puzzles remind me of the One who sees the bigger picture when I don't. If I designed a Christmas puzzle, it would be built around my Precious Moments baby Jesus figurine. Jesus is the picture of perfection and hope that we all need, and the pieces of his coming took years and years to come together. The pieces of his return are still coming together, often in ways we can’t see. But as I wait for those pieces to fall into place, I can be assured that the picture he is putting together in my life is being completed, and will continue to be completed, until Jesus comes again.

Dear Jesus, thank you for your presence in the puzzling times. Help me trust you even when the pieces don’t seem to fit. Amen.

Throughout this Day: What is something tangible in your life that reminds you of how God is working even when you can’t see it?

Additional Resource: Here is another resource on hope in the puzzling times: https://thelife.com/devotionals/blessings-in-uncertainty