I love puzzles. All kinds of puzzles. The challenge of figuring out the answer draws me like a lure on a fishing line.

As cooler weather creeps in, I get excited about starting a new jigsaw puzzle. I have been doing them as long as I can remember. For some people, it causes anxiety, but I find it calming.

When the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are poured out on the table all at once, there is chaos. Everything is jumbled together and makes no sense. There is this mass of different colours and shapes. I can understand the stress some people feel. Where do I start?

The first thing I like to do is find the border, the pieces with a straight edge, which creates the framework. This represents truth and order in chaos. Without a frame to work from, we struggle to know where the boundaries are and where the pieces belong.

Without truth in our lives—the Word of God—we also don’t know what the boundaries are. Chaos and confusion fill our minds and souls, leading to fear. How do we know what is right and wrong, where our place is, and our purpose? How do I know what I am feeling is true and not just a skewed perspective?

Restlessness and discontent creep in. Maybe I belong over there, or should I be doing what that person is doing? They seem happy and safe.

Have you ever been working on a puzzle, picked up a piece and thought, I know exactly where this belongs. But when you try to fit it in, you realize it is not the right shape, colour, or pattern. Until I place a piece, feel it click in, and see it match up, I can’t be certain it’s the right one.

Truth has a weightiness to it. When you hear it, something inside you resonates with it. It may rankle you, but the click inside your soul tells you it is truth, and a whisper in your mind agrees.

The Word of God is truth and our guide to God’s plan for our lives. When we make it a priority daily to read it, study it, and apply it to our way of life and thinking, we begin to see where we belong and our purpose. Chaos begins to lose its hold on us.

Once the framework is in place, I slowly separate the pieces into colours and shapes. I choose a section of the picture to focus on, and as I begin to see connections, pockets of the whole start to take shape, but I don’t always know where they belong.

In John 15, the Lord says he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Jesus tells us he is in us when we stay connected to him; abide with him. Abide means to stay, continue, remain, or dwell. And when we do, we find pockets of peace, contentment, and purpose.

How do I abide with the Lord? He’s in heaven and I am on earth.

In Deuteronomy 31:6, God promised to never leave or forsake his people. We are his people when we put our faith in Christ. The LORD promised to be with them and guide them.

This promise is fulfilled for us when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us, on our profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Incomprehensible as it seems, we become united with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He in us and we in him.

It is through this union that we remain, dwell and stay connected to the Almighty God who guides us along the path laid out for us before we were born (Ephesians 2:10). He does not work in chaos, but slowly and patiently shows us where we belong and what he has created us for.

As I find similar pieces and join them together, sliding or clicking them into place, a pattern emerges over time, and they become one to complete the picture. Chaos is replaced by beauty, order and a deep satisfaction in our core.

We do not have to be ruled or puzzled by chaos. This is not God’s plan or desire for us, it is a tactic of the enemy. He seeks to bring confusion, fear, and hopelessness so we will throw our hands up in exasperation and walk away.

I urge you on with God’s promise in Joshua 1:9 (NIV):

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Be well!

Patricia