Puzzle Pieces

Last week I enjoyed some extra quiet moments with my boys and we stayed up some late nights putting together a puzzle.  So many things were shared as we sat quiet staring at the various pieces of the puzzle, first focusing on the border.  The outer things are the easiest to recognize and place aren't they?

It took time--hours to decipher the rest of the puzzle.  More quiet moments and lots of studying of the pieces.

When the time was done--when it was finished we realized that there was something missing.  How frustrating, how disappointing to recognize the piece to the puzzle was missing and after looking around the table and under the table, the missing piece was no where to be found.

Oh, the void--the emptiness!

Makes me think of the times I was like this puzzle piece, lost and hidden--the times when someone did not recognize where I fit in--but more importantly the times when I did not see the place God had for me.  Every time that I have felt sad and left out God had a different place for me and I just needed to keep going and see just where God had wanted to place me.  I'm still constantly trying to figure this out and just trusting Him and taking steps with each moment of my day. 

Do you ever feel left out? 

Do you know where you fit in? 

Could you be the exact piece for this void in this picture? 

And maybe you see someone else that would fit right here, do you have the courage to speak up and point them there? 

How do we figure it out?.

Our hearts are hopelessly dark and deceitful, like a puzzle that no one can figure out. (Jer 17:9). 

May our hearts be like this puzzle piece--once missing and hidden pushed unnoticed under the closet door only to be found when looking intently by the hands of one putting the puzzle together. 

Oh, there is One who is putting this puzzle of our lives together isn't there. 

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. (Jer 17:7&8).

Are you looking to Him to place you in the puzzle of your life?  How has God been putting the pieces of your life puzzle together?