My dad is the jigsaw puzzle king. At gift-giving time, we take on the major challenge of finding a puzzle that’s a major challenge. One that takes longer than a couple days to put together. He has slapped together 3D, edgeless, and double-sided ones. I think my sister finally found one that took him a month. She wins the prize!
Dad never boxes the puzzles back up. The 3D Capitol sits atop the entertainment center. Others are glued to cardboard, covered with plastic wrap and hung all over the house.
He gave us one to work on when we were home for Thanksgiving. “We” means Gracee and me. But it was mostly Lee and me. Only 500 pieces. It took us an evening. Lee set the box top up so we could see the picture while we worked. I told him that was cheating and put it down. Then I put it back up. I needed to cheat.
At one point, we scoured the floor and down our shirts for missing pieces. Only to find them camouflaged on top of the puzzle. More than once I looked and looked for a piece that turned out to be right in front of my face the whole time. And, of course, sometimes, as we put one piece in, we knocked several out of place and had to repair the damage.
When we were close to the finish, we had 5 holes and 5 pieces that didn’t fit. So we had to search for pieces that had appeared to fit but really didn’t.
We enjoyed looking at that puzzle for a day and then broke it apart and dumped it back in the box.
We do have a couple of puzzles that we worked on when Abby was pregnant. Those are glued together and stored in a closet still waiting for frames. One of them has a missing piece that in seven years has never turned up.
Life is often compared to a puzzle.
We’re all born out of plain brown boxes. And then the box is gone. Can’t climb back it.
No pictures to show us how all the jigs and jags of our lives will eventually fit. It’s a no-cheating zone. No matter how we try, we will never find all the pieces or make all the pieces fit. And there will always seem to be pieces missing. Only God knows the ultimate picture. Only God knows how it all fits together. And His glue holds it together.
The Bible tells us that He makes everything in the lives of His children work together for good. In His time. Our lifetime.
A very wise pastor once told me that everything will come together when all the pieces get together. But it will be something beautiful! No missing pieces. Puzzle complete. Picture perfect.
“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] that all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” Romans 8:28 – Amplified Bible
Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King
Sandra, I loved this devotional! What a beautiful way to look at our lives. Sometimes we want the complete picture of how everything is going to turn out. But you're so right–only God has that picture and he is piecing us together in his timing. Thank you!
Sandra, this puzzle lover so enjoyed this post!
My first novel used the analogy of the shards and chips of kaleidoscope patterns and God as the perfect Craftsman, fitting them JUST SO in each life.
So glad to meet you at my crit partner Eileen's blog. Hope to see you again!!
Patti Lacy
http://www.pattilacy.com/blog
@Jody: Thanks! In HIS time. And just when I think I have all the pieces figured out, He scrambled them all up!
@Patti: Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I've always loved kaleidoscopes. What a neat analogy! Glad to meet you, too!