I’ve always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles. There’s something about putting all the pieces together that just intrigues me. It’s somewhat of a challenge, but when I connect the right piece to the inside of the puzzle I just feel a sense of accomplishment. Then I move on to looking for the next one.

Over the years I’ve done a lot of them, but never knew what to do with them after they were completed. After all, it just isn’t right to tear them apart again and put them back in the box, all disconnected again.

And for my fellow jigsaw puzzle fanatics, don’t you just hate it when you get near the end and discover there’s a piece or two MISSING!? For a true puzzle fan, that’s the worst!

Fortunately I’ve discovered there are jigsaw puzzle apps for my iPad, and I can even upload my own pictures on them. It’s actually like jigsaw puzzle heaven…and there are never any pieces getting lost. And you can work them as many times as you like, and in any number of combinations of pieces, depending on how much of a challenge you want to give yourself; how complex you want your puzzle to be.

What does this have to do with today’s blog you may ask?

Well…..

One evening when I was working on a puzzle it occurred to me that we can easily be compared to one of these jigsaw puzzles. A very complex one, especially the older we get.

We’re each a very complex being, made up of a lot of individual parts that have to fit together. And fit perfectly. We cannot be complete without missing even one part, no matter now tiny that part may be. Just like a jigsaw puzzle when there’s just one more part to insert in place; without that part correctly in place there’s a glaring hole that prevents our work from becoming a finished project.

But we usually don’t realize we have all the pieces we need to be complete. We always seem to think we need just one more thing to make us complete, a finished product. A different job. A different house. A new car. A new love interest because the current one is getting boring. Another pair of shoes when our closet is already full. A new cell phone even though the one we have is only a year old, because we have to have the latest and greatest.

And that will make our puzzle complete.

Until we actually get that thing we just had to have. And discover there’s still a piece missing. Or so we think. And the search begins again.

But even though we think there’s something missing, the Master Puzzlemaker who designed us didn’t leave even one part out. Not even a tiny one. The parts are all there, and not able to be lost; we just may not have them arranged together just right.

When you’re working that jigsaw puzzle there are a lot of possible places to put the pieces. You may think you’ve found just the right place, but that piece just won’t quite fit properly. You try to force it, but what happens? It pops right out.

Puzzle shapes are similar in every puzzle. It’s the image on them that’s different; that makes it even more difficult to figure out where they go, because sometimes those images on those pieces seem to fit in several places.

In our own situation, we can change what we look like, how we dress, or where we live. But all of the pieces of our lives still have to fit together.

There’s only one way to make all the pieces fit together; to make that puzzle into YOU. And that’s by looking at yourself…really looking. Looking at who you are as a person, and not at the things you possess. Your material possessions are not who you are.

You may think there are pieces of your life that are missing, fallen out of that puzzle box, but those pieces are what’s found inside of you. They aren’t material possessions that can get lost or stolen, but who you really are. Your faith, your beliefs. How you treat people; your care and concern for others; setting an example for those around you by your actions and how you live your life. Those actions and similar traits are the most important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is your life.

You may not even know all of the pieces are there; you may not recognize them. They may even be somewhat out of place. But without them being where they belong your puzzle isn’t complete.

But how do you figure out where those puzzle pieces are supposed to go?

That’s where it gets tricky; a lot trickier than those actual jigsaw puzzles. Because it requires looking inside yourself and doing some soul searching. Asking yourself what that misplaced piece is, and then looking for it and putting it where it should be. Where it makes everything complete.

Chances are the hardest part will be figuring out what’s really misplaced in your life, in yourself. That, unfortunately, I can’t help you with.

Only you can answer that question.

But when you do, the puzzle that is you will come together beautifully.

So what does your personal jigsaw puzzle look like?