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Trusting God is Like Building a Puzzle

IStock_000017949870XSmallMy friends, I have to tell you I wrote this post partly on my iPhone as I did my walk and pray. I can only imagine that my fellow walkers and joggers thought I was a text addict, but when God has something to say, I’ve learned not to rely on my memory and write it down.

I went out on this walk with the goal to hear God on a particular issue. I needed answers, or at least an answer. I believed I’d received part of it during my quiet time, but I needed more.

You see, I’m in that place where you think you’ve heard what God is telling you to do but it’s pushing you to a whole new level of trust and dependence upon Him and you just want to be sure. As I prayed and sought God in this, He began to show me how trusting Him is like building a puzzle.

When God thought of us, created us and thinks of us, He sees a complete picture—who we are created to be and this reflects God’s heart for us. Yet we live in this world of brokenness and evil that has fractured our picture into pieces. Our faith walk is a journey to find those pieces and put them where they belong until we have the complete picture. I believe this is a life long journey and we see the full picture when we go home to heaven.

So in the meantime we have these puzzle pieces and each one represents an area of our life or situation that God asks us to trust and walk with Him. As we do, each piece goes into place and we begin to see more of the big picture and have a better understanding of God’s plan. This also gives us reference and inspiration for the next area or puzzle piece.

Sometimes the areas we work on start outside of the puzzle frame. You know, when you work on a section of the puzzle and build it part way until you see where it fits in the bigger picture.

Right now I’m in one of those areas. I can see only this small section that I’m working on and it’s a crucial area to the bigger picture. It involves not just me but my hubby as well. You see, there’s something I could do to help solve part of this problem but God is asking me to wait and let Him do this. I have no idea how, only that He’s asking me to trust Him in a whole new way.

As I walked and prayed God spoke to my heart and said, “We’re building the picture together, Dineen.”

It’s a big challenge to trust God in this, but I am willing. He’s proved Himself faithful over and over again. But I realized that staying this course of trust means I will have to explain to my husband why I’m waiting and not implementing this solution. The question then came, “do I fear my husband’s displeasure more than God’s?”

Yet another area and opportunity to trust God. I will have to wait to see how this plays out and trust God here as well. Get the picture?

Thankfully, God already knows the big picture. After all, He created it and everything He does in our lives is intended to add to this picture to bring it to completion, because everything He starts He finishes (Phil. 1:6). He could do it all Himself but then where would that leave us? Mere spectators? A flat picture on a table with no substance or depth?

Just like when we sit down to actually build a puzzle, we know the end will result in a complete picture. We study each piece and come to appreciate its detail and significance to the completed image. All the pieces are there and Abba is working right there with us to put it all together. He’s asking us not only to trust Him for each piece but for the whole picture as well.

This is the adventure of faith and trust and belief. We don’t know how all the pieces fit together but God does and the picture is vast because it’s not just our own picture we’re working with God to create but also the areas of overlap where our lives intersect with the lives of those we love, those we pray for, those we care about and those He calls us to serve.

It’s about building the picture of a lifetime.

Walk in trust, my friends. God won’t let you down and He is by far the best puzzle master I know. Share in the comments what your “puzzle piece” is right now and let’s pray for each other.

Love you with the passion Jesus!
Dineen

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