Thoughts About Puzzle

My son went thru a phase of being really into puzzle (not so much now). But when I say into, I meant he really likes doing it over and over again. As soon as he finishes completing his favourite set, he will undo it and start over again. He prefers me to sit down next to him though as he do it. 

One time, as I watch him do the same puzzle for the nth time, a comparison to the puzzle occurred to me. I realised, it’s like our life with God.

Our life with God is complete. In Jeremiah 1:5, God said “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” and He continued in the same book in chapter 29 verse 11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. He knows the big picture, but the tricky part is that we don’t.

We would try to build our puzzle - some has set plans in doing it, some just go with the flow putting the pieces they grab wherever they see fit, or wherever it is convenient at that time. Some will feel like the puzzle pieces fit, some feel like they are completely out of place.

Small Pieces vs Big Pieces / Small Plans vs Big Plans 

Some parts of the puzzle could be just background colours. Those background pieces can go on and on. n life, that could be an endless moving forward but no milestone in sight… but then it could indicate the puzzle is actually really big. The endless going could be frustrating or even disheartening but if put into perspective it could also develop patience and perseverance.

You might be thinking that for your life you are completing a nine-piece puzzle, and as you are about to fit a piece that you thought is a corner piece, another piece came that indicates it could actually be a bigger puzzle after all. His ways are higher than our ways, indeed (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Compartmentalised vs. Integrated 

Some parts look like they are already complete, and can be left alone. You can separately build them on the side (just like the technique my son discovered where in he holds together what looks familiar) but then to build the whole picture you have to integrate that compartmentalised portion to the big picture. Sometimes it’s tricky to do - just like when my little one try to join in the completed portion to the bigger portion of the puzzle, he rather discovered he had to do it carefully or else, the already built portion could break. So as with life, maybe there is a part of our lives that we have already closed and rather leave in the past / alone. It does not hold any power over us anymore, but in one way or another it has helped build us into the strong us of today. Somehow, you know it has to be connected in the bigger picture.

Undoing It

And, sometimes, pieces fit just fine until you hit an end left with a portion of the puzzle that seemed going well at the start, but apparently does not fit the whole picture. Accepting that it’s not meant to be could be a start, undoing all that hard work may seem heartbreaking, but remember, you are using the same pieces just repositioning them to better suit the picture. The experiences you had with those pieces stay with you, and they will still be part of the big picture not just the way you originally thought they would be. Maybe it could be people or relationships in the context of life, but in the end they will fit.

Thanks for reading these ramblings of mine. Clearly, I've been watching Samuel do the puzzles that long I have drafted these thoughts along.

xx, Belle.