Leave A Puzzle Out

For the past several days, I have been leaving a puzzle out on part of our dining table.  I find it to be an easy way to de-stress from other activities and to focus on something else for a while.  Don’t be surprised to find other family members also leaving their other activities to engage in this quiet, problem-solving activity.  

Here are some lessons and tips that I have been pulling away from working on a puzzle:

1-Find Your Perimeter Pieces

Locate those pieces that have that unmistakable straight edge to it that tells you this piece is a boundary marker for your puzzle.  And of course you will want to find those four special boundary markers that tell you where your corners are.  

Don’t we need to know our boundaries in life?  We want to make sure we never go beyond our edge.  Don’t lose your temper.  Don’t sin against the Lord.  Don’t mess with the marriage covenant.  Don’t bud in unnecessarily.  Stay within your lane.  This becomes key in driving and in relationships!  It is vital that we know our limits, our standards.  We get our standards from the Bible.  Living by God’s standards will give us much peace.  Read the Bible for yourself and let’s align ourselves with His Word.

2-Keep Your Eyes On The Answer

Whenever I choose to work on the puzzle, I keep the puzzle box and the poster that came with it in near sight so that I can figure out how to put the pieces together.  

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus!  Hebrews 12:2a says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”  There’s just no better way to live than to keep trusting in Jesus.

3-Look For Striking Themes    

Any interesting puzzle will have certain categories to look out for: areas of similar colors, arrangement of words, the name of the author, related objects and so forth. These striking themes allow you to begin to put those pieces near each other.  What you are doing is creating piles of themes of what is truly important in the puzzle.  The “bird” pile, the “flower” pile, the “fountain” pile, the “sky” pile, the “window” pile and on and on.  

As we go through life, we need to be familiar with the themes that are most striking.  These are the themes that stick out to us on a daily basis.  Perhaps it is education, family, work, leisure, finances and friendships-just to name a few.  But beyond all of this, it is paramount that we know our purpose.  God doesn’t want you running around without a clue.  He wants you to be so passionate about His purpose for your life.  What is that purpose?  God wants you to know Him intimately through a relationship with His Son Jesus and to serve the Lord all your life long.  Focus well on the themes that really matter:  God, family, church, your world!  Become all that Christ wants for you to be.

4-Everything Else Is A Filler

Once the perimeter of your puzzle is starting to take shape and you have your major piles of themes to be addressed in your puzzle, everything else is just a filler.  And so it is with life.  Once you have the major areas of life covered like having salvation and honoring God with your life, everything else falls into place.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

5-Take Care Of All The Pieces

No one wants to do a puzzle with a missing piece.  What an eye sore to have a puzzle nearly done with a gap right in the middle.  How awful.

It’s a reminder that every person in the Body of Christ matters.  Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

While all the members of His Body are valuable, let us never forget the Lord.  We can’t do life without Christ.  

Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  

I’m so grateful that the Lord Jesus is holding all areas of my life in the palm of His Hands. 

There’s no place I’d rather be.