I have enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles since I was a little girl, spending hours every summer alongside my father, sister, other family and/or friends at a table by the big picture window overlooking Red Cedar Lake in the Wisconsin north woods, putting together masterpieces. A friend has recently introduced me to a new kind of puzzle (for me), wooden with creative, not-always-straight edge pieces, clever object pieces, an extra piece or two that doesn’t fit in, and usually no picture of the finished product. I recently worked “Yosemite Spring,” a magnificent scene of mountains reflected in a clear lake, graced by deer and a billowy cloud top, that had fun pieces shaped like a hiker, birds, fish, a snowflake, the sun, a stingray, and the always-included jester. I couldn’t help but think how the sovereign God works in our lives.
He knows the big picture, the whole story beginning to end– He designed it, and has crafted every piece of our individual lives to fit together for His purposes. Each puzzle is unique, an intricate masterpiece of distinct beauty. We don’t know what our life will look like, and often the edges, our plans and course, are not what we expected; they don’t always follow our prescribed or desired pattern. Sometimes God surprises us with delights, or heartaches, that take our breath away. But every part fits together to make the life He ordained and planned from before time, a work of perfection according to His purposes.
When we don’t know the whys, or hows, or whats of the future, we can know Him. That is enough. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” (Colossians 1:17; Psalm 138:8)
“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things yet undone, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purposes.’ I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” Isaiah 46:9-10,11
Sovereign Lord, I am Your workmanship. You are acquainted with all my ways. You who began a good work in me will bring it to completion. I know that You can do all things, and that no purposes of Yours can be thwarted. So be it, amen. (Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 139:3; Philippians 1:6; Job 42:2)
As the rain and snow 