Many years ago I was thinking about puzzles and how time consuming, fulfilling and frustratting they are to put together. I also found it amazing the comparison of our lives to a "puzzle."
- the box
The box represents so many things. First of all it represents how the picture is supposed to look. On the very front of the box is a picture of what the puzzle is supposed to look like after it is completed. I mean don't we all have a "what it's suppose to look like picture" of our life or maybe at least some scenario of our life. If not, you can rest assured others do. The box is also what contains the pieces. I mean the box contains what it takes to make the picture and complete the puzzle. But sometimes the pieces just don't fit. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. Sometimes you wonder if one is missing. You question did they miss cut one of the pieces. When this frustration happens is when you start to force the pieces and try to make it fit yourself. Make it work. Trying to put pieces where they weren't meant to be by forcing the pieces and bending the corners while ruining the picture. If you would have only been patient and waited the picture would have been clearer and smoother laying flatter and fitting together so much better. But nonetheless the picture is clear and the pieces all fit somehow? - "It amazes me the comparison of our lives to a puzzle"...
- the pieces
The pieces vary in size and quantity. Some puzzles have just a few pieces while other puzzles have literally thousands of pieces. Some of the pieces are small and some of the pieces are larger. Some pieces have an obvious shape and fit while other pieces don't seem to fit at all. The pieces all have signifigance. There are some pieces that give meaning to the puzzle. They are the pieces that are flat and straght on one edge. These are the border pieces. These are the pieces that all the other pieces have to fit within. We all need boundaries. We all have to have those borders that support and edge all the areas and pieces of life even those odd shaped small pieces that don't make since and at times don't seem to fit. The pieces that don't seem to fit anywhere are the pieces that we leave on the outside until we get enough pieces of the picture together and then all of a sudden it becomes clear that it fit too. They help make the picture complete. All the pieces are significant. - 'It amazes me the comparison of our lives to a puzzle"...
- the age appropriateness
The age appropriateness is interesting too. A child's puzzle has just a few big pieces, while an adult puzzle can have several thousand tiny pieces. A child's puzzle is pretty simple. It usully even has a board to lay the pieces on inside a border that is already painted on the board where you lay the few big pieces. The picture is pretty clear and can ususally be put together with in minutes. An adult puzzle on the other hand has no border and no backboard to start with. You just dump the pieces out and start trying to make sense of where they all may go to complete the puzzle and reveal the picture. It's amazing because it can take several adults, several hours, days, and even weeks to put together a complex puzzle. Let's not forget there are also complex 3D puzzles. And they have to be able to stand alone. There are puzzles that range from 1D to 3D. Several pieces to few pieces. There are puzzles with backboard and painted borders to no backboard or painted border. Just like life it seems the more complex things are the more pieces there are to try and fit together. - "It amazes me the comparison of our lives to a puzzle"...
- the picture
The picture is where it all begins. The picture was before the pieces ever exsisted. The pieces were cut out of the picture to be reconnected to one another so that the picture could be seen again. We are taking the pieces and trying to recreate the original picture or scene. We use the picture as our guide. When we have trouble finding out where the pieces fit we look at the picture. You get the picture, don't you? (no pun inteneded) The Bible tells us, "we are His creation, His wormanship created beforehand for good works." It says, "that He created us in His own image." It says, "He knew us before we were." We go through the frustrations of trying to fit the pieces together and create the picture we want. Or to create the picture we have in our minds of how it is supposed to be. Or to put the pieces where and how others are trying to tell us how and where they think they should go or fit together. We must look at the picture. When we see the "BIG" picture we see how the pieces are supposed to fit. Look to the author and finisher the "originator" of the "picture." When you look at the picture it gives you the reality that all the pieces do fit together and they create something that is whole and complete. The picture is just pieces that have been patiently and properly put together to create what was cut apart to be put back together again. The pieces all fit. They are all sinificant in creating the picture. - "It amazes me the comparison of our lives to a puzzle"...
- the originator
The originator is the one who saw the picture and made the puzzle. The picture had to be seen, painted, created, or taken by someone. Then someone saw the picture the way it was before the pieces were ever cut out to recreate it. The picture was taken or painted as one piece on one canvas. Then the puzzle cutter cut the pictures into pieces to be put back together by you, me or someone. Putting puzzles together is both fulfilling and frustating. It is fulfilling when the pieces all fit and make sense but it is frustrating when the pieces don't fit and seem misplaced. God is the originator. He saw your life picture before anyone else did. He sees the beginning from the end. He sees where the pieces fit. He saw the picture of your life and mine before it began. Take the pieces out of the box. Put the pieces on the table. Take your hands off and allow Him to put the pieces together. Allow Him to place the pieces where they belong. Step back. Take a look. See the pieces? See the picture? See His hands? Feel the peace? It all makes sense now doesn't it? That's where that piece fit. That's what the picture is supposed to look like. That's what fulfillment and peace feel like. - "It amazes me the comparison of our lives to a puzzle"...
robert alan collins
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