JIGSAW PUZZLE
My wife and I love jigsaw puzzles. It's one of those activities that challenge the brain while at the same time providing an opportunity to talk, laugh, and share a sense of accomplishment when we finish. It’s usually an activity that we save for winter weather. There’s just something cozy and comforting about sitting down with a hot mug of cocoa topped with marshmallows and a snack, and working out the puzzle before you.
We have our own strategy when we solve jigsaw puzzles. First we empty all of the pieces on the table
and turn them all over right-side up. Then
we start searching for the straight-edged pieces that make up the outside
border of the puzzle. Once the border is
complete, we start sorting out pieces based on similar colors, patterns, or
hues; or if they appear to belong together to form some outstanding feature in
the picture - a person, farmhouse, or a bridge for instance. We both work on separate sections initially
(she accuses me of taking the easy parts), but then work together toward the
end to finish the sky, or sea, or some other featureless expanse.
Sometimes a piece of the puzzle will be particularly
elusive. We will search and search, and
just not see it. Even though it is the
only piece missing from an otherwise completed section, and we can see its
exact shape, and apparent color, yet, we will not see it. After awhile, we'll start blaming the
manufacturer for not including all of the pieces, or we'll blame each other for
losing a piece under the table (well, ok, sometimes we do); but often, the
piece will just show up when we're looking for something else.
Slowly, section by section, a beautiful picture takes
shape; and, surprisingly, all the pieces are there after all, and each has its
place in the whole.
The Word of God is much like a jigsaw puzzle. We are so anxious to understand everything
there is to know about the Bible, but it is like a complex puzzle that needs to
be put together piece by piece. There
are those things that we learn early on that form a "border" for our
understanding: faith, redemption, original sin, Christ's sacrifice. Even these, however, become clearer as we
find new pieces of truth that fit into the border. The one thing that we will find is true about
the Bible, as well as jigsaw puzzles, is that every new piece will fit together
with what God has already shown us.
Every fresh revelation will only clarify what the Lord has already
revealed. Bit by bit, the picture will take
shape. We will discover that from
Genesis to Revelation, God has always had a plan, and He has never deviated
from that plan from the beginning of time.
Everything that He has done from the beginning leads up to one clear and
cohesive picture in the end.
We
wonder why we can't understand certain things that we read, or why a passage
seems to contradict another passage that we have read. The reason is that we do not have enough of
the picture revealed yet to form a proper frame of reference. There are truths in the Bible that can only
be understood in relation to still other truths. Until we are in a position spiritually to
receive such truths, we may remain blind to something that may seem elementary
to an older, more mature Christian. Jesus
said to the twelve, "I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." (John 16:12). As
much as we think we are very mature, and able to understand anything that God
would tell us, He knows how easily we would be offended at the truth if our
hearts weren't first prepared to receive it.
"He came to His own, and His
own received Him not."
One thing I know is true: the Word of God cannot be
absorbed by the natural man. One must
first be born again and receive the Holy Spirit of truth before he can begin to
understand the truth. "But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Corinthians 2:14). The Spirit of truth teaches us God's plan little by little. Every new truth that He reveals to us fits
neatly with all the other pieces that He has taught us. Slowly, the picture begins to take
shape. We must have patience,
however. Some truths take years to grasp. It all depends on how yielded we are to God,
and how ready we are to believe what He tells us is fact. We must be willing to see with the eyes of
the Spirit and trust with the heart of a child.
Sometimes, that nugget of truth that would complete our
understanding of a particular subject will elude us for a long time only to be
revealed when we are thinking of something else altogether. We absorb truth more by the spirit of
revelation than we do by our intellect. We
can be confident, though, that God will provide us with the answers that we
need when we need them, but not necessarily with the answers that we think we
have to have. In this life, we often
have questions that don't seem to have answers.
Like that missing puzzle piece, everything seems clear except for that
hole in the picture. Be assured that
there is a piece that just fits in that place; and in time God will provide
it. In the mean time, let's rejoice in
all the things that God has shown us,
trusting in the One Who holds all truth.
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