The Perfect Peace

The other day I made a mistake; I bought a puzzle. I don't really know why, I've never really enjoyed them or been exceptionally good at working them, but I was deceived by the picturesque Thomas Kincaid lighthouse painting tempting me on the front of the box.

See what I mean??

I say I was deceived because, as we all know, when you open the box you aren't greeted by the pretty painting to hang in your house...you are greeted by 1,000 little pieces that seemingly fit together to create the aforementioned picture.

Anyway, as I was working one of these puzzles, I noticed that while I was looking for where a certain piece should go, I would get impatient and try to force it where it didn't belong. At first glance, it would look like it fit; the grooves of the certain piece fit into the space (even if I did have to force that last corner in), the colors in the painting were similar, and it appeared as if I had found the right piece! However, if I was honest with myself, I knew that it was not. Although it seemed to fit, there was still a little bit of space in between the piece and the rest of the puzzle, and it jiggled when I tried to move it, and although the colors were similar, it didn't complete the picture accurately. Further, if I were to leave it there, it would throw off the rest of the puzzle. This got me thinking about how we try to fit puzzle pieces into our lives where they don't belong.

The past year or so I feel like I tried to fit a lot of wrong puzzle pieces into my life. It was a lot of trial and error and sometimes all I felt like I was running into was another closed door. When facing those obstacles it was easy to look around at other people who seem to have their lives figured out, and all their dreams are coming true (or so it seems), or in essence, all their puzzle pieces are fitting in quite nicely. I felt like (and still do) have a lot of missing puzzle pieces. I have the most important, a relationship with Jesus Christ, but the rest are still falling into place. (Actually, that should not be a puzzle piece at all, but more like the table that the rest of the puzzle sits on.) Each of these closed doors have been a wrong puzzle piece in my life, but I am grateful for a God who lovingly takes it out and says, " Just wait. Don't settle for less than what I have to give you."

That's what struck me as I was working this puzzle, so many times we try to force something we want into God's plan. It might look (to us) like something that is good, or will work with the rest of our life, but God knows better. He might let us keep it there for a little while, so we learn a lesson, or to build our character, but eventually, He will remove it and put His better, perfect piece in place.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."