THE PUZZLE PIECE

Some people like to create beautiful pictures out of puzzle pieces. For some it is a way to relax, others like the challenge. For me, the challenge comes from sitting still long enough to hunt for the right pieces that fit together without going totally bonkers!

A puzzle is a funny thing. A box full of pieces.  A bunch of seemingly meaningless pieces that fit together to create "something". When you dump the pieces out of the box onto the table, it's hard to see the "something" (unless you study the cover of the box). And if one piece doesn't belong, it can ruin the whole picture. And drive you bonkers.

People can be like puzzle pieces. And sometimes we can feel like we are in the wrong box. When in the right "box", we fit together nicely with others, working together, playing together, worshipping together, enjoying each other, creating a beautiful masterpiece. But sometimes we just feel like we are in the wrong box. Nothing wrong with the piece, we just don't fit. We just don't seem to interlock with the others.

Thankfully, God can take the wrong pieces and place them where they belong. And he can create a masterpiece. We may feel like we don't fit. We may feel out of place. We may feel lonely. But with God, we always "fit".

Imagine how Rahab must have felt when she first came out of Jericho. The walls came down and "The Prostitute" (now former) moved into God's family. How strange their ways must have seemed to her. How lonely she must have felt at first. How out of place.  A Gentile among the Israelites. Surely she felt (even though she believed in the One, True God) that she didn't "fit". But God, in His faithfulness and love, took "Rahab the Prostitute" and placed her in His family and she became part of the beautiful puzzle. Part of the beautiful masterpiece.  So much so, that she became a part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Remember Rahab and the Puzzle Piece the next time you feel like you don't "fit".   The next time you feel like you are in the wrong box. The next time you feel out of place or lonely. Remember you are special to God and you are His masterpiece, thought of before time, created for something special. In God's puzzle, you always fit. You are never in the wrong box.

"But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho-and she lives among the Israelites to this day." Joshua 6:25

"For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10