The Great Puzzle: Seeing Purpose in Purposelessness

Photo credit to Sigmund on Unsplash.

Life is like a huge puzzle.

And boy, do I hate puzzles.

I remember as a little girl trying to put puzzles together. I almost always got frustrated and gave up. The bigger the puzzle, the more irritated I was. All the little pieces, seeming to fit somewhere but never quite fitting where I wanted them to go, drove (and still drive) me crazy.

The pieces of our lives are like puzzle pieces. They seem out of place, unnecessary, and sometimes when we finally think we’ve found where they fit, we realize that they never went there after all. 

But even so, there’s nothing quite like finding where a puzzle piece fits. There’s a sure feeling of pride and triumph when you click that piece into place and finally see the little picture you’ve made. Stepping back and seeing how all the parts came together to make a whole is undeniably beautiful.

Lately I’ve felt like my life is more of a puzzle than usual. There seem to be dozens of little pieces that confuse and irritate me. I feel like I’m inches away from seeing where they all fit, but when I try to file them away somewhere they bend and refuse to be put away.

Maybe I’ll never see where all these puzzle pieces fit. Maybe they’ll always feel stupid and unnecessary, like a splinter that refuses to be dug out of your palm. But God isn’t a God of unnecessary pieces. Every piece has a point. Every piece has a purpose. And maybe, just maybe, God will let you see a glimpse of that beautiful broken puzzle one day, whether it’s in this life or even in the life to come.

So embrace the puzzle pieces. Embrace their randomness. Try to see their good points. One day they all will click into place.