How do you put a puzzle together?

I was meditating on the word this morning thinking about the vastness of God. Recently I purchased a new journal, The Gold that Washed Ashore by Dean & Dutch Sheets. I love it because it causes me to stop and think and then gives me space to write what I'm thinking. There were a few statements today that I underlined, circled and put exclamation points after. One is ..His love is what keeps us for all our days! It's not up to me, it's Him who keeps me. Another is ...You can't sail on the wind of yesterday or tomorrow, only today's. I can stop thinking about shoulda, woulda, coulda cause it won't make a difference and worrying isn't going to get me anywhere either, so I hoist my sail and wait for His wind!

Dutch was sharing a clip from one of his books talking about when the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. Because of the opposition of neighbors, they stopped working on the temple. It had been 16 years since they laid their hands to repair/restore it. The Lord sent 2 prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, who told them the reason for their lack of blessing and provision was because they had abandoned God's project for their own. (Haggai 1:1-11) I circled the word they. How many times do we blame God, questioning where His blessing went, or the devil for stopping us when all the time we abandon what the Lord instructed us to do? Dutch finishes with the statement "Our redemptive and restorative God never loses! The only question is always: Will we cooperate with Him?

My mind then shifted to recently when I was helping my 3 year granddaughter put a 24 piece puzzle together. It was the first time we had put a puzzle of this level together. I have always put a puzzle together by sorting out all the pieces and then putting all the outside pieces together first. I was trying to do this with her and she excitedly choose the "Tigger" piece first. Then found another piece of "Tigger" and was randomly looking at things she recognized and then adding to it. To my amazement, she put it together easily. Of course as 3 year olds always do, when she had finished she cried out, "AGAIN". So, this time I tried to show her the "right or easy" way to put it together by identifying the outside pieces and putting them together first. She wasn't buying it! Again, she found pieces of Tigger, Pooh or Piglet and gleefully added piece by piece.

Being a firstborn, I find that I'm very administrative. I can administer lots of things pretty easily and tell everyone else what to do and how. It dawned on me that perhaps I build walls around everyday life to get perspective and contain it. Maybe I start from the outside in because then I am sure I've got it all under control. The operative word in these statements is "I". I so want it to be Him! When I start with Him, His word, His heart, and His desires it gives me the freedom to follow, to come along beside and be at His pace "doing whatever He is doing". This is the way I want it. So Lord, show me where I am walled off or in, controlling rather than cooperating, missing you rather than communing with you. I want to abandon my works and walk every moment of every day in connection with you! Lord, hand me the pieces of life, however they fit together, in the right order and my destiny will be fulfilled! (And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished (the puzzle of my life is put together) on that day when Jesus Christ returns. Philippians 1:6 Living translation)