4:313 – You Don’t Have to Solve the Puzzle Today

#faithbites #faithjourney Puzzle

Setting

When you were a kid, did you ever work on puzzles? I remember putting them on the table and putting the pieces together. The larger puzzles could take days. You would take some time, put it together, and add. Then when you were all done, you could frame it. It was a work of art. But life isn’t just a puzzle, it’s much more than that.

I recently described my mental health as a puzzle with all the pieces jumbled up p, upside down, and I didn’t have a picture of what the final puzzle should look like. When you approach a situation like this, it’s daunting and just plain overwhelming. But someone said, just work on it one piece at a time. That’s hard for me. But what would it look like if we just focused on one piece and knew that we could come back tomorrow and the next day and keep working on it?

Today’s Questions: What do you do when you are overwhelmed? How do you focus on one task at a time? Do you need to know what the puzzle looks like to solve it?

Scripture

• James 4:14 – Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
• Matthew 6:25-27 – “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Reflection

When we work on puzzles, we are trying to fit pieces where they go to match a picture we have. In our lives, we have an idea of what our lives should be, then we try to make it happen. Sometimes though, we don’t know what pieces make it up, nor do we know what pieces we already have. God tells us that tomorrow is a vapor and we will disappear. He also says that we shouldn’t be anxious about what we eat or drink or clothing. He says, that he will take care of us. OUr worry doesn’t let us live longer.

Jesus says to love people, and love God What would happen if we focused on the pieces that relate to loving people and loving God. If we just ignored the other pieces, would God make them known to us when we need them? To me, there are two primary ways of putting a puzzle together. The first is finding all the outside pieces, then working in. The other is to build pieces of the inside and connect. I like the outside method, my kids like the inside. When I focus on the frame, it helps me not worry about the other pieces until it’s time for them. I can also build the frame without knowing what the picture looks like. If we focused on our relationship with God, the frame, wouldn’t he then make the more nuanced details clear?

As we close, don’t worry about what all the puzzle pieces look like or how they go together. Focus on one piece at a time and let God reveal the rest. It will reduce the stress you may feel as you are working on the path God has set for you.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, many of us feel lost or unsure on how to move forward. We want to know what the pieces of our lives are, how they fit together and put them in a frame for the future. You tell us that we are becoming who you want us to be and are never stuck in one place. Remind us that we don’t need to know what you are planning for us as you only mean well for us. Reduce the fear and anxiety of the unknown. Lord, let us strive to focus on loving you and loving people. We know with that in mind, we can’t fail. In your name, we pray, Amen.