In the wintertime my husband and I enjoy working jigsaw puzzles together. We ask “Alexa” to play our favorite station, Divine Sound Radio, and sing along as we work the puzzle. We find the activity both relaxing and challenging. Our latest puzzle was the most challenging ever. It was a circus theme with one thousand pieces, many of them oddly shaped. It was very colorful, with many people, animals, and all the things you would find at a circus. It was the most frustrating puzzle we have ever done, and there were times I just wanted to give up. I thought about texting my friend who also does puzzles and saying, “if you ever want to torture yourself, I’ve got one for you!” 

There were many times we thought “these pieces don’t belong in this puzzle” or, “this puzzle is missing pieces.” There was one particular piece we both looked for many times and could not find. Nothing on the table matched that particular color or shape. We looked on the floor under the table, under the rug, under the puzzle itself to no avail. We were sure it was missing. We were honestly disappointed that the beautiful picture on the box would not be completed.

When we finally got down to the end, when only a few pieces were left, there it was! It had been there all along. We just didn’t see it. As I put that final piece in to complete the puzzle, I thought about how our lives are sometimes like a puzzle. There are circumstances that make us think “this surely isn’t meant to be part of my life” and other times when we think that our life seems to have a missing piece. So we search for it in all kinds of places, trying to put the puzzle of our lives together, hoping the result will be a beautiful picture.

As believers in Jesus Christ we are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), and we can ”[be] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Whenever we feel that certain pieces of our life don’t belong, or that other pieces are missing, we can be assured that God will continue to work out the “puzzle” of our life . Perhaps that missing piece was there all along, you just didn’t see it. In the end, when you stand before the Lord, you will see how your life was a beautiful masterpiece for God’s glory.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Pam

NOTE: Pastor Pam Sutherland’s charges include Fort Gibson United Methodist Church, Castlewood, VA and St. Paul United Methodist Church, St. Paul, VA.

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