Over the Thanksgiving holiday our family put together a 1000 piece puzzle! I mean, a 900 and 90…9!
As the week progressed, so did the puzzle. The roof, the bear, the water. We did the bottom part last. As we put in the last piece laying on the table, we had a terrible discovery! TWO pieces were missing! We wailed! And moaned! And looked on the floor! We couldn’t believe it!
Then Ben walked in from his room with a single piece he had all week denied stealing, just for the purpose of guaranteeing he’d be the one to fit the last piece. He was outraged as well, crying “What? This wasn’t the plan!” We all shook our heads and laughed. But that last missing piece was never found.
Missing pieces. In the history of mankind it seems there is very often a missing piece in our lives. Many times we know it. Many times we only sense it. The thing is, there are lots of pieces to other puzzles on our table and we try to cram it in our “missing piece” space. They don’t fit, but we stand back and squint our eyes and say, “Well, maybe it goes there!” Some of the pieces in themselves are good things. Work. Health. Family. Ministry. Some are bad, even harmful. In the end, we know it doesn’t belong. It’s not the “missing piece.”
The good news is the missing piece really isn’t missing after all! It’s not on the floor hiding, the dog didn’t eat it, and Ben didn’t steal it! In fact, the Piece is right there, still on the table. The Piece wants you to put it in your empty space. The Piece wants to make your puzzle complete.
That completeness the Piece gives us does not mean our puzzle will always be perfect. It doesn’t mean some little kid won’t come along and tear it all up just for fun! But even in the again-jumbled pieces of our lives, the Piece is still there. As Jeremiah watched the potter remake the marred pot to make it perfect again (Jeremiah 18), the puzzle will go back together. Perfect and complete as meant to be.
“Being 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