Puzzled

Puzzled

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 28:1-2

One of my favorite ways to relax is working jigsaw puzzles. Having something to do with my hands frees up my mind to work on problems and come up with ideas, and can also make for good prayer time. The first thing I do when I start a puzzle is to build the edges. This gives me the boundaries, the size and the shape of the finished picture. The next thing I do is to sort similar colors and patterns. For instance, if I am looking for pieces where the sky meets the trees I will find those that have both blue and green. Once I have the similar pieces gathered I look for ones that complement shapes. For example if I have a piece with a sharp peak, I look for one with a deep valley to fit it with. I prefer to keep the box handy so I can use the picture for reference.

Life can be "puzzling" sometimes. Just like it is easier if you fit the edges of the puzzle together first, It is easier to walk with God if you know where the boundaries are. Yes, I am talking about the "R" word. (RULES) We can react in one of two main ways to God's rules. Some people chafe against them and see how close they can get to the edge of the boundary without going over. Others like me love the rules because they are easy to quantify. Keeping the rules is something I have some control over, and felt much safer than trusting my salvation and my life to a fuzzy concept like grace. In Deuteronomy 27 and 28, God show us his design for the rules. He gathered half of the people on Mt Gerizim and half on Mt Ebal. He told them through Moses that if they would obey the laws and not turn to the left and the right, they would have these blessings. If they did not they would have curses. He intended the rules to be guides and boundaries, not to be either chains or checklists.

We can see colors and patterns in life as we do in puzzles. Fellowship is SO important. I have been unable to get to church for a couple of weeks and it is amazing how quickly we can get weakened and discouraged. It is good to seek out people who are like us and who believe the same way, but that is not the whole story. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the church as a body. What if all the hands decided to start their own club? Brings up pictures of the Adam's Family, doesn't it? While we need fellowship with people who are similar, we also need fellowship with people who are different. This is true in worship and it is true in ministry. We each have our own unique shape and place in the puzzle. For instance, I was feeling bad the other day and I told God that I was sorry I hadn't written any songs lately. God let me know that there are lots of people writing songs, but my writing voice is unique and no one is doing exactly what I am.

Finally, let us remember that we have a pattern. Jesus willingly left heaven to come and show us how to live. This gives him the right to be our high priest and our intercessor. Hebrews 4:15 says He was tempted in always as we are, yet without sin.

God has put us in community, he has given us guidelines and he has given us a pattern. Use these tools in this puzzling world.