I was talking with my sister one Saturday morning as she was looking to purchase a home. She was excited about the prospects of a couple of houses that she had just discovered, and we began to talk about them. Of course the conversation turned to God and His will - and rightly so. We talked about His plan for her life, and the importance of taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ so that her emotions and feelings didn't cause her to make a choice that was not a part of His plan.
That's what makes the Sovereignty of God so amazing to me - He knows every detail of every plan or activity we are going to choose to participate in and He works within those details every so perfectly - even in the bad choices. He is going to continue to use our choices in a perfect way to shape our lives.
I think as Christians that each of our lives is like a unique "Picture Puzzle" from God - thousands of intricate pieces that will one day form a individual picture of us once they are put together. We obtain new pieces of the puzzle as we make our individual choices - it can be when facing our daily challenges, trials, or various seasons of life. As we ask God for "His" wisdom (See James 1:5) each day, and about each choice, then we will be able to choose wisely. When we do this, each part of our life should fit perfectly into the other piece and once put together they should make a picture of what we will ultimately look like.
Our problem is that we don't see how at times because we only see the fragments of the individual little pieces (Choices) and not the completed picture puzzle. We might not see it now, but we are told that one day we will see it clearly.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV)
What we need to understand is that God has actually given us a perfect picture of what we will look like though within the pages of the Bible - all we have to do is read about our Lord and Savior, Jesus. We can see what the Perfect Picture Puzzle looks like, and know with confidence what we will look like as well when God is finished with us.
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
Q: So why is it so hard to see Christ in ourselves at times?
A: It's because we have taken the wrong pieces and shoved them into the wrong spot.
I think making bad choices are like picking up the wrong piece for a particular part of the Puzzle - it's not what God had in mind for that area of our life. The problem is that sometimes we just insist that the piece will fit, and we do silly things to prove it. We can enter into a relationship with a person that we were not equally yoked spiritually with, or we might choose to hang out with the wrong types of people and end up going along with things that we would otherwise not choose to do; we can follow our feelings verses following the Holy Spirit's leading by making a purchase on a car or home that doesn't suit our financial capabilities and many other things like that.
We take these incorrect pieces (Choices) and we cram them in where they obviously don't fit. We can even trim them and modify them to fit where we want them fit - but they really don't fit. And as we do this, we can then wonder why our "Picture puzzle" looks like a recreation of Van Gough painting with an ear missing. Our problem is that we get impatient, and we want what we think is perfect for us at the time, and many times it is anything but perfect.
My sister's realtor shared something with her that bears repeating; he said, "When people look at houses to buy they can get caught up in the moment - especially when they are being bid upon during an open auction. These people will loose focus and act much like a person in a gambling casino - often doing foolish things in the heat of the moment." I have to think that we have all done this at some point. Perhaps not with a house or even in an auction, but we have simply lost focus and done things based on "Feelings" instead of "Obedience." Again, these are simply the wrong puzzle pieces that won't fit properly.
Hey Christian, I want to encourage you today to know with certainty, that God has a perfect plan for every aspect of your life. Don't be anxious about this, but pray about everything and keep reading your Bible. God will guide you through each and every choice. And when He's done with you, you will be God's perfect picture puzzle."
STUDY QUESTION: What can we learn about our lives according to the Scriptures contained within this devotional?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Can you see the times where you have forced a piece that didn't fit properly in your life?
APPLICATION: Trust in God, because He will use all of our choices to help shape our life, and transform us to be like Jesus.
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