How to Make Sense of the Puzzle Pieces of Your Life
My life often resembles a jigsaw puzzle laid out on a table. Not the kind with the lid propped up beside it, where I can glance at the completed image and immediately know where everything belongs. More like a table full of scattered pieces, some connected, some upside down, and some that clearly matter but don’t seem to fit anywhere yet.
My Attempts to Make Sense of Pieces
I sort them. I group them. I build small sections that make sense for a while. But eventually, I reach the areas where the edges are undefined, and the pieces stop fitting together. The borders don’t align, and the picture remains incomplete. That’s usually when I start searching for the lid.
And I’ve begun to wonder if my search for the lid sometimes keeps me from noticing the pieces already in front of me. Gratitude brings my attention back to what God has already revealed, even when I cannot see what He is building.
Initially, I tell myself I am just being wise, careful, thoughtful. It seems responsible to seek clarity before moving forward, direction before committing to something that might shape my life or even my understanding of who I am.
But beneath that careful reasoning lies a quieter desire: If I could just see the complete picture, I would feel more confident about placing the next piece. How many times have I waited there?
Not doubting God or walking away, but hovering over the table of my life, wondering where the next piece belongs and wishing He would reveal the image on the box.
When You Don’t See the Whole Picture Yet
The psalmist writes that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Not a floodlight illuminating the entire landscape. Not a detailed blueprint laid out on the table of our lives. Just a lamp. Enough light to see the next step. We trust the Puzzle Maker with what we cannot see, and gratitude helps us remember His faithfulness in what we do see. We often think hope and gratitude will come once everything makes sense. But what if we can thank God before we understand the picture, knowing that His character does not change?
I’ve noticed that when I search hardest for the lid, it’s usually because I want reassurance more than a relationship. I want to confirm that the image will be beautiful, meaningful, and worth the effort before I keep adding pieces that don’t make sense yet. Perhaps gratitude begins here. Not with gratitude for every circumstance itself, nor with pretending every unfinished place feels good, but with learning to recognize the goodness of God within it. His presence. His Word. His provision for today and the grace to faithfully place the next piece.
Abraham went without knowing where he was headed. Mary said yes without understanding how her life would unfold. Their hope was not dependent on having the whole picture. It was rooted in who God is.
When I return to the table now, the pieces are still scattered. Some still seem out of place. Some still refuse to connect in ways I would prefer. The big picture remains unseen. Yet, something within me has shifted.
I no longer search the room for the lid as often. Instead, I look at the pieces already on the table and notice what God has already made clear. I remember where He has been faithful and give thanks for the pieces He has placed in my hands today.
The full picture is still beyond my view, but it is not beyond His. And perhaps gratitude is one way I learn to trust the Puzzle Maker before I ever see the finished picture.
Meet Joni Rosebrock
Joni Rosebrock helps women live Christ-centered lives in a self-focused world. She is the creator of WRAP Yourself in the Word™, a Scripture-anchored practice that helps believers engage God’s Word in practical, life-giving ways, and the host of the WRAP Yourself in the Word podcast. Through teaching, speaking, and workshops like Who’s the Boss of Your Mind. Joni equips women to recognize the lies shaping their thoughts, anchor themselves in biblical truth, and flourish in everyday faith. Joni is also part of a creative collaboration podcast called Saved You A Seat.
She lives in NW Ohio with her husband, Randy, where they steward their family grain farm and Arrowsmith Farm and Retreat.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
twyla
Twyla Franz is a relentless believer in direction over pace, and a proponent of ripple-effect living. A blueberry tea drinker, sourdough bread baker, minimalist wanna-be, chalk painter, mom of three, and wife to her first and forever. She plays worship songs loud and on repeat, and numbers her thanks to remember gratitude is a before, not an after. As an introvert who now has a village of neighbors, she believes a meaningful life with the people right in front of you and God spilling into your relationships is possible.
