Are there any readers who love putting puzzles together? Puzzles are great for you! Though they may be frustrating, the process of figuring it out has amazing benefits. Puzzles improve mood and memory, they help you to unwind and destress, they sharpen your logic and reasoning as well as improve visual and spatial reasoning.
For those who love puzzles, it is satisfying to sort through what looks impossible and make sense of the chaos. There is an understanding that every piece is there for a reason, but they must figure out its place in order to see the big picture. It is a lot like life, isn’t it? Things are never laid out in front of us nice and neat; it takes figuring out, sorting through and putting things where they belong.
Christians will be the very first to admit that God never leads them on an orderly path with everything neatly arranged. In fact, when you surrender your life to Christ in many ways, the puzzle gets much more difficult as the flesh and the spirit war against each other. Why is that? Perhaps you became a Christian thinking that this would be a much easier life, but then after you were saved, things became more difficult and puzzling to you.
The Bible tells us over and over of the “mysteries of the faith”. One of those passages is found in Colossians 2:2-3. “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” As frustrating as puzzles can be, for the Christian, the benefits of uncovering the hidden mysteries of the faith far outweigh the frustration.
When we are in the midst of sorting through piece by piece to get to our purpose, it can be exhausting. Trying to figure out why God puts certain people in our life…frustrating. Gaining understanding through God’s Word, sometimes leaves us scratching our heads. But as we continue with the Lord in solving this puzzle called life, we begin to see the bigger picture. God helps define our purpose, He uses people to shape our character, and he brings more and more understanding and knowledge through his word.
Puzzlers are given that name because they finish the puzzle. Though they may get overwhelmed at times, they continue in their pursuit towards the final goal. Christians, as we head toward the prize Paul talks about we are faced with some pretty puzzling things. As we deal with life’s issues, we solve the puzzle by using the tools God has given us: prayer, the Bible, worship, accountability, but most importantly, Christ.
The verse in Colossians tells us the greatest mystery of the faith is Christ. Developing that relationship through daily interaction is the best way to solve your life puzzle. The benefits are a heart that is encouraged, love, wealth, understanding and knowledge. There is always a piece of the puzzle we are trying to sort out. For the believer, we will be doing that until we take our last breath. God designed it that way to continually bring you closer and closer to him until at last we see him face to face.
