When The Pieces Don't Fit . . .

Sometimes I wonder about odd things.  I like to know and understand where things come from, which is why I've always loved history.  The other day this thought crossed my mind:  "Was the term 'Puzzled' a word that was in use before puzzles came out or did jigsaw puzzles come out and then the term 'puzzled' became associated with anything that required solving?"  I told you I wonder about odd things. 

Instead of being "puzzled" by this thought I decided to do a little research.  So I googled "Where did the term puzzle come from?"  It turns out that the word "puzzle" definitely was in use before the actual jigsaw puzzle was invented.  In fact, as a side note, the jigsaw puzzle was invented by some teacher in the early 1800's.  He was trying to help his students learn the geography of certain continents so he made a wooden map and cut out the various countries so students could piece them back together.  Apparently the kids enjoyed this enough that the idea caught on and it led to our present-day cardboard puzzles.  They came to be known as "puzzles" because they created a problem, which required persistence in order to be solved. 

Life can be puzzling.  For those of you who are curious, here's the definition of "puzzle":

puz·zle

v. puz·zled, puz·zling, puz·zles

v.tr.

1. To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter.

2. To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement.

v.intr.

1. To be perplexed.

2. To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it.

n.

1. Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.

2. Something that baffles or confuses.

3. The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment.

 

                                                   (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/puzzle)

 

The synonyms for "puzzle" are so descriptive and so appropriate.  Perplexed.  Bewildered.  Baffled.  Confused.  When you have a problem that "requires ingenuity and persistence to solve," those descriptives fit.  Life's puzzles are perplexing, baffling, confusing and incredibly frustrating.

 

I mentioned in my previous post just how vivid my memory is of the few days before Thomas died.  One of the details I left out was a Sunday School lesson I taught the Sunday before.  It was December 9th and we had a few of our teachers call in sick that morning.  In order to have the classes covered I combined our teens and our upper elementary classes.  I already had a lesson I was doing and I thought it would fit for just about any age group. 

 

I had several puzzles spread out on the floor around the room.  I then had the students partner up and sit down by a puzzle.  They were simple kid puzzles made out of wood, with only 8 to 10 pieces each, but none of the puzzles were put together.  They all needed solving.  The kicker was, I had one of the partners put a blindfold on while the other was required to talk them through solving the puzzle without touching the puzzle or their blindfolded partner.  It was frustrating for both.  The individual who was blindfolded could only feel the various pieces and was relying totally on the person who could see how the puzzle was supposed to go together.  The other person could see how the puzzle was to go together, but they couldn't do anything more than verbally lead their partner; hoping that person would trust that they were supplying trustworthy information. 

 

The point was that we can't see the big picture of what God is doing in our lives.  God reveals his will to us but he tends to do it one piece at a time.  So often we try to put the puzzle together and we want it done right now.  We want to see the picture on the outside of the box so we can see how the pieces go together.  But only God sees the picture.  God created the picture.  Do we trust Him enough to listen as He shows us little by little how the pieces go together?

 

I hate it when the lessons I do end up teaching me as well. 

 

That was three days before I would find Thomas dead in his crib.  The moment I picked him up I knew he was gone.  In that moment I knew life would never be the same.  The pieces of my puzzle that had been pieced together for 34 years seemed to come crashing off the table.  I thought I knew what the puzzle looked like, but this piece wasn't in my puzzle.  This piece just doesn't fit with the picture I thought was coming together.  Is it possible that in helping me prepare my Sunday School lesson that day God was really preparing me for the events to come?  I don't know.

 

What I do know is that God knows what the picture looks like.  He's got the box top.  He created the picture.  He knows how the pieces fit together.  We can try as hard as we can to cram in a piece that doesn't fit, or we can do our best to leave a piece out that doesn't fit with what WE want the picture to look like, but God knows what it's supposed to look like.  Will be have enough faith to trust the One who knows how the pieces fit together?

 

The Apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians have been bringing hope to me in the past few days, may they bring hope to you as you face the perplexing situations life throws your way:

 

"So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever."

                                                   -  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG)