A Puzzling Comparison

I bet you thought that this post would be something about the enigmas or paradoxes of life, the universe, and everything, didn't you? Sorry to disappoint - in this case, puzzling refers to the action of uniting pieces of a deliberately fractured whole to create a single image called a puzzle. Actually, I just made that up... but it sounded good, right? ;) Anyhow, I work with lots of kids ages 2-6 several times a week, and on Wednesday mornings and Thursday nights we set up "stations" for the kids to work at during free play time. These are areas where they can do things like build train tracks, play with legos, color, etc. - but my absolute favorite station is the puzzle area. Especially when my buddy Jack shows up. He LOVES puzzles, so every time I pull one out and shake all the pieces out of the bag, he's right there to help me put them together! The only problem is, Jack is only four (almost five, according to him), so he hasn't quite figured out how to find pieces that match all the time. So, every time we start a puzzle, I give him the job of turning all the pieces right-side up while I quickly and stealthily search for matches. First we sort all of the edge pieces into a pile ("Is this one?" "Nope, good try Jack, but this one doesn't have any flat sides. See, this is what a flat edge looks like - find more of these!"), then we build the perimeter of the puzzle out of that pile and fill the middle with the remaining pieces until we get the whole thing solved. The process usually looks a little something like this:

Me: *sorts pieces quickly*
Jack: What can I do to help? :D
Me: Here buddy, this piece has an eagle wing on it... see if you can find a piece with the eagle's body!
Jack: *looks everywhere but at the piece right next to his left foot, which is the one he needs* I can't find it!
Me: What about the one by your foot?
Jack: *Searches through the pile by his right foot*
Me: Other side, buddy! Try the one by your other foot!
Jack: *sees it* Okay! *promptly turns the piece upside down and tries to stick it in the wrong side of the other piece* It doesn't work! *sets the piece aside and resumes searching for the "right one"*
Me: *picks up the discarded piece and hands it to him* I think this one is gonna work. Try it again!
Jack: It doesn't work! *tries it again anyhow (what a great kid!), but it "doesn't work" again, and he sets it down*
Me: What if you turn it around?
Jack: *picks it up, turns it the right way after a few false starts, and finally gets the pieces to match*
Me: There you go!
Jack: I did it!!! I fixed it, look!!! :D
Me: Wow, you sure did! Great job!!!

Thankfully, that's not how it goes with EVERY puzzle piece, haha! He's gotten really good at puzzles over the past few weeks, so most of the time I can just subtly toss matching pieces next to each other and he'll figure them out... always with a joyous exclamation that he found the right one and fixed it! Whoo! He's even gotten to the point where he can figure out small bits of the puzzle without any prompting or arranging by me - although the mysterious physiognomy of the "edge piece" still eludes him. :)

Doing puzzles with Jack makes me think about how God must do life with us. I work these puzzles all the time with various kids, so I'm familiar with how most of them go together. And even if I put together a puzzle I've never seen before, I can easily find pieces that match and see what way they need to go together to fit properly. I have a greater sense of how puzzles work, what whole images look like - basically, I know the big picture. Jack, on the other hand, isn't as familiar with the puzzles as I am; and even if he has done a certain puzzle before, he still can't always find matching pieces. And when he does, he can't always get them to fit right. But when I place a couple of matches right next to each other or suggest he turn a piece around, he quickly finds the match and is thrilled with what "he" just did. "Look, I found it!" he'll proclaim, even though I was the one who put the pieces in order; all he had to do was connect what was already in place. And he never says it in an arrogant way or anything like that; he's just really excited that he accomplished his goal, and he can't wait to show me what a great job he did! I wonder how many times that happens with God and us? How many times does God line up the perfect opportunities, people, events, etc. in our life to create His beautiful plan, and wait for us to put two and two together and run back to Him with a thrilled "Look what's happening! Didn't I do a good job?"

When I first thought of that, I felt a little embarrassed and guilty... I mean, here I have been excited about stuff in my life that's "just falling into place", or things that "I accomplished", when really God set the whole thing up... but then I realized, it's okay. When Jack calls to me and points out the fantastic way he connected the pieces I lined up for him a couple minutes ago, I never scold him for taking credit for "finding" what I already found, or disapprove of the pleasure he gets from "fixing" something that I had to fix for him. I take one look at those sparkling eyes and his huge grin (complete with missing front teeth), and I am just as thrilled for him as he is for himself! "Way to go, buddy! Awesome!" I love Jack, and seeing him so overjoyed at his "accomplishments" gives me great joy as well. And this is a kid I only see a couple times a week, and had never met until a couple months ago! How much more must God take pleasure in the joy of His children whom He knew before the creation of the world, whom He knit together in their mothers' wombs? My favorite Bible verse says it all:

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty warrior who will save you. He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will exult over you with loud singing!"
~Zephaniah 3:17

Glad rejoicing, quiet loving, loud singing that exults over us! WOW! As you recognize that though, also keep in mind that God is lining things up for us - let's remember to give credit to Him as we encounter "matches" in our lives. :)

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."
~Proverbs 3:5-6

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
~Ephesians 2:10

And when you're hearing His voice or His word directing you to take action in a way that doesn't seem to "fit" in your life, keep listening to Him. Keep trying if He directs you to. Because if you put down the piece that He showed you and start trying to put other pieces into the gap, chances are you're gonna be trying to fill that hole for a long time before you finally come back to the one He intended to go there.

Remember, God is the only one who can make something like this:

Turn into THIS! (This is my favorite puzzle to do with Jack - see the eagles?)

Anyway, those are my "puzzling" thoughts. :) Have a beautiful day!