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The Puzzle of My Life

On one particular day, I bowed my head and began crying out to God, "What does my life hold? What will happen to me. I'm really afraid, for I'm going through a really hard time and no one person seems to truly understand or be able to help me. What about you, Lord? Do you understand me? Everything I plan for in my life seems to fall apart. I need a promise from you. Give me a word, directly from you, Dear Lord.

After I prayed this prayer and said "Amen," I opened my eyes and saw a hand reaching outstretched toward me. That hand held a small object in it. I followed the hand as I looked upward and saw that it belonged to the face of Jesus. I looked up and saw His face. He looked down at me. He wiped my tears with His other hand and then said to me, "Take this, my child." I looked back down at His outstretched hand holding the object. As I looked closer, I saw that the object was a small puzzle piece. "What does this mean?" I asked. The Lord smiled at me and said, "This is your life I'm holding in my hand. This puzzle piece is your life, your future. I'm giving you one piece at a time. I only let you see so far ahead, so that you keep trusting me. Take it. Here."

So then I reached toward his Hand and took out the small puzzle piece. It had some beautiful colors and designs on it, but I couldn't make out anything specific. I was confused for a moment. But then I remembered and reached into my pocket and pulled out all of the other pieces my Lord had given me before. They fit side by side, enough to make a whole corner of the puzzle. But still I couldn't determine what the puzzle was going to be. So I said, "Thank you, Lord," and waited and trusted Him for more.

Time went on. The years slowly passed. There were good times and bad times in my life. After each instance, especially after tough ones, the Lord kept handing me puzzle pieces of my life -- just one at a time; slowly, one piece after another. As time went on, I could see how the pieces all fit together. They always fit together side by side. I could see it taking shape, and at the end of my life, my Good Lord said, "My child, I have no more pieces left now. Thank you for trusting me for each piece. Look now. Do you understand? I could only give you one piece at a time, for I know that's all you could handle. Yet it was enough to keep you going through those tough times, enough to keep you pressing on toward the prize of high-calling. You're my precious child, and I've taken care of you throughout your whole life as you now can look and plainly see on this puzzle. Behold, look down and see the puzzle of your life."

So, then I looked down. To my surprise, my puzzle was finished. It was finally completed and no longer was it a bunch of puzzle pieces to assemble but also, a picture to see, to look upon! What a beautiful puzzle it was! All the colors and shapes all blended together perfectly. Then to my amazement, I recognized something very specific in the picture now made of my life as I had served him and slowly put this whole thing together. I gasped in amazement, for what I saw was a colorful sketch of myself. Yes, a picture of me. Yes, me! After all these years of obeying the Lord and reaching out to Him for pieces, I was learning to totally depend on him.

But also, it was me in the image of Christ. Yes, Christ was in the picture and He was the biggest part of my picture, the puzzle of my life. The picture of Him was what made the picture beautiful, for He was perfect. I still had flaws but when I looked at His picture, I had no flaws. They somehow could be overlooked because of His perfection. I thought, "What a beautiful picture this is! Dear Lord, it all makes sense why all those little things happened to make another piece of my life. I just stood there in amazement looking at this puzzle now turned picture until I heard his voice softly calling my name. He said, "Come, child. It's time. Let's go." So I reached upward and took His hand. He smiled at me and said, "It's time to go home now."

He took me home and left behind a beautiful legacy in the form of my life serving Christ, a beautiful life puzzle with the pieces now intact. It all finally made sense.