LORD OF THE PUZZLES OF LIFE!

By Helen Jesze, 27^th November 2020

I used to love doing jigsaw-puzzles! Then for a few years I left them packed away. But after George died this year, I brought them all out and since then, have always had a 1000 pieces puzzle laid out on my kitchen table! (I do prepare meals – on the worktop!) In between cooking or waiting for something to heat in the microwave, I would put in a few more pieces, and at other times, too; even though it requires patience and persistence, I find it very relaxing and it is supposed to be good to keep your brain active!

It is so exciting to see the colours and shapes, to study the details and try to fit them together correctly, to see a design and picture taking form under your hands. I used to put together all the edge pieces so the frame was complete, then try to find the easiest parts to put together. There was countless turning over and over of the pieces in the box, trying to find certain ones to fit in.

Recently I changed my strategy. After making my outside frame, I go through all the pieces looking for similar ones, e.g. all the windows, all the yellow roses, faces, and put each of these groups in a separate plastic box. I have found this much more helpful, and quicker in the long-run.

Now before I lose you, in case you are not a puzzle-lover, please stay with me and I’ll apply this to our lives! Jesus gave so many illustrations in his teaching. He knew that people’s minds think in pictures and that we can learn valuable lessons from what we see, hear and experience in Life. Many times as I have worked on my puzzles, different thoughts have popped up, and I have seen parallels and lessons.

With a puzzle, we always have a colourful photo to show us the final design, but God does not show us the final picture. He may show us a small part, but in His wisdom, he withholds it. This means we have to walk by faith, trusting His way is best, learning to make right choices to have a good result. The puzzle pieces have no power of their own, they must be moved around by a person.

We have our free will which God will never take away from us, and our choices determine the final picture, whether we will fulfil or not fulfil God’s plan for us.

There are usually some pieces which look so similar that we cannot determine where they should be put; there could be several possibilities. We cannot even see if they actually fit, unless there are adjoining pieces added, but these have still not been found. I once knew a person that if he could not get a puzzle piece to fit, he would keep trying, keep pushing it again and again into the same place, but that is no good. In our life, too, we often keep taking something which God has shown He does not want us to have or to do, trying with force to achieve our aim. This will only bring frustration and disobedience, and no blessing. We may get Ishmael, but we will not get Isaac!

Then there are the times you want a particular piece. You look through hundreds of pieces, but still cannot find it. Now you have a choice; you can still keep looking or you can put that aside and continue with another part, believing that the elusive piece will turn up later. What about us? God has timings in our lives. There are some promises which are conditional, and as soon as we fulfill these conditions, it comes to pass. It’s a bit like knowing A and G, but not knowing B, C, D, E and F to get to G!

But on some occasions, the timing is not yet there. God does not want us to have this yet, we may not be ready or the conditions are not yet right. We too, have a choice. We can keep on and on looking, becoming increasingly frustrated, maybe angry or bitter against God, or we can continue to thank Him for His timing, and continue to trust that we will know at the right time, then we just get on and do what we know to do at the moment.

Have you heard of people doing a puzzle upside down, (not one with 1000 pieces!) where they cannot see the colours and picture, and still putting it together?! I can’t imagine how that is possible! They must be experts, but they don’t have all the enjoyment that we normal puzzlers get! But this again speaks to me that we do not see the design God has for our lives, and we still work together with Him to bring it to its fulness. The clue is – we have HIM to help us! It is not our own ability! Or, to use another illustration, we may only see the tangled threads at the moment, but the day will come when we will see the beautiful picture of embroidered threads on the other side!

I was doing a puzzle of a beautiful cottage smothered with yellow roses and a huge bed of brilliant red poppies in the garden, but I found the thatched roof so difficult. The pieces looked so similar, there was only one way to tackle it, by a process of elimination! This means that you find one place and try every piece in that one place, until you find the correct one. It is time-consuming and often boring, but it is the only possibility, and it works. Let’s apply that too.

Have you had different open doors at the same time? Various possibilities, but you cannot decide which is right, and you are not getting your prayers for guidance answered? Here too, it might be wise to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”, testing the ‘spirits’, studying the Word – all attitudes which might seem slow and taking too much time; you feel you are getting nowhere, not making progress. God’s methods are not what we would necessarily choose and He knows best. You will find your ‘piece’ eventually, and you may be very surprised – it was there staring you in the face, but you could not see it at the time!

Some pieces of puzzle may be lost; in Life’s puzzle there are also some things or people which may be irretrieveably lost. We grieve that our picture is not as beautiful as it should be, but Jesus, the Healer of broken hearts can bring a beauty and a comfort to us, and restore the years that the locust has eaten! Trust Him to do it for you today!