My Piece of the Puzzle – 4

Putting the Final Piece in the Puzzle

 

Eventually, no matter what there comes a time where putting the puzzle together is just plain dumb and boring.  There comes the time when you are staring at 50 pieces of the same blue color that you think: “Why did I do this to myself?”  But, no matter what each piece that goes into the puzzle you feel like you can keep going.  It is one more piece closer to the fulfillment of the picture on the box.

 

In the Bible there is this guy named Paul who wrote about the end of his life.  He was sentenced to die and was waiting to be executed.  He wrote to a protégée about how he viewed the end of his puzzle.  In a letter he wrote to Timothy Paul writes: “My life is being given as an offering to God, and the time has come for me to leave this life. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now, a crown is being held for me—a crown for being right with God. The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give the crown to me on that day—not only to me but to all those who have waited with love for him to come again. “         2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NCV)

 

In these words we get some hints about finishing our puzzle well.  Let’s look at what Paul told his young apprentice.

 

  1. He got tired, but didn’t quit…Fighting to find the right piece and place

In puzzles and life we all get tired.  The pieces don’t always fit.  I mean how many times do we pick up the same piece and try to put it in the same place that it just doesn’t fit.  We may get tired not only with a puzzle but with life.  It is when we continue to fight and not quit that we make gains in our life.  Sometimes we have no choice but to fight.  The next piece to fit is the inspiration to keep going.  Don’t expect every piece to go in every time you pick up a piece.  You have to keep trying pieces if you are ever going to finish your picture.

 

  1. He got pushed, but didn’t lie down…Finished even when He didn’t feel like it

I run from time to time.  I trained for and ran a half marathon once.  There were times in the training I wanted to lay down and just stop.  When I ran the half marathon in Indianapolis my running partner looked at me and yelled at me to keep running.  I wanted to walk real bad about the 11 mile mark.  She pushed me to keep going.  I kept going even though I felt like I was done.  But, when I crossed that line a few miles later I can’t describe the feeling.  It was like I just did something I trained for, for 6 months.  Then I realized I ran a race, not curing cancer.  I got a medal just like the other 20,000 people.  Still though I finished and it felt great.

 

  1. He doubted, but didn’t quit believing…Faith even though the next piece isn’t clear

Faith is one of those things in life.  We can see the picture on the box, but yet all those individual pieces just make us think this will never be done.  I have this idea about faith.  I think if you don’t doubt ever once in awhile you cannot really be sure you believe in it at all.  There is this idea that if I put one more piece in then the puzzle is closer to being finished.  It is the choice to believe that it will be finished and the picture we saw will be lived out in our lives.   We have to keep faith to see the picture completed.  But, don’t be afraid to kick it around a little.

 

  1. He was rewarded for all three of these one day…If we wait the reward will be seen

Then there is that moment.  When you are a couple of pieces away from being finished and the work is all worth it.  Those pieces go in and we are rewarded for sticking with it.  When we keep fighting, running and believing the reward is seen when we get to glue that puzzle to a piece of cardboard and hang it in the hallway.  You can’t finish the puzzle with the last piece.  You must put each piece in each time.  It is in not quitting that finishing happens.  Many people never glue the puzzle because they cannot trust the next piece.  We have to decide each day and each piece to keep going.

 

Funny thing about puzzles is that they come to us in a box, which has a picture and is a mess when we dump it out to start.  But piece by piece it goes together.  If we only keep putting the pieces together in a puzzle and life do we see the reward of our work.  It is in finishing strong that makes the puzzle a beautiful thing.  It is the same with life.  Only in finishing with a fight, run and faith do we realize that each struggle, each victory and each question changed us into a beautiful person.

 

Two questions to think about when it comes to puzzle:

  1. Do I have the courage to just be stubborn at times?
  2. Am I wise enough to be patient as God puts our puzzle together?