God is never puzzled

After my morning meditation I was responding to an email from my mother and the following thoughts came to mind...

Our lives are a puzzle.

 

Each victory is a visible piece added to the puzzle, 

and each loss leaves a missing space.

 

And yet, God fills in each empty space with his love and grace. 

 

I envision the strong and beautiful arms of Christ 
that were stretched out on the cross 
as the arms holding every piece of the puzzle to my life together...

  

...particularly when it seems there are too many missing pieces! 

  

 Others may see my missing pieces, 

but God doesn't when I am covered, 

bathed, 

filled inside and out with Christ, 

for Christ is holding all of life together.

 

His love protects me inside as I love and release everyone 
who comes to mind in prayer. 
Others' lives are not mine to figure out, 
but to release to God, 
for He is not caught by surprise by anyone's situation 
and loves them more deeply than I!

His love also protects me outside 
when I wear a genuine smile and offer a genuine hug. 
It may be the only therapy I can give another, 
but when I do even those seemingly small things, 
I add a victorious puzzle piece to another's life. 

No thing is too small a gift when given with great love!

Mom, I know you don't write a lot, but thanks for taking the time and listening to me online. Without our email dialogue I could not have articulated my thoughts in such a way. Thanks also for teaching us children to serve others. My prayer is that this piece serves to strengthen other's souls and show them how precious they are to the Lord. I love you Mom and am enjoying this season of life that John and I are having with you and Dad and our wonderful family. This post is dedicated to you! 

I am also dedicating this piece to my good friend Beth who recently filled in a few missing puzzle pieces in my life which blessed me tremendously!
 

God is in the Silences

One of the qualities of good friendships is that these friendships trust each other in the "silences," those times when we're given to think. If life is full of activity, color and minute-to-minute mind numbing stuff that pushes God far away somewhere as a spectator [hoping to get His attention by one's busy life], when silence comes, so comes a particular dumbfoundedness [what to do with the time we now have to think].

The Lord has given us silence as a tool, whether we don't have two seconds in a row to think consciously or whether our lives have more silence than we would want. We need silence. We cannot always control our surroundings, but God can train us to find silence among busy-ness. He can also use the large chunks of silence in our life to bring us closer to Him by serving others or studying about Him more. In the silences we call up what we feed our minds. Feeding on His Word calls His Voice to us. We are connected directly to God if we've obeyed Him through His command to be baptized for the removal of sins where His Good Spirit is implanted in us (Acts 2, specifically verse 38). God then grows us for the rest of our days spiritually so long as we long for Him in Scripture and act out what He is working in us.

I find that sweeping the floors, cleaning out dog bowls and leaving the media off meanwhile produce the silences that call me to God. He's always there. He does not change. His words speak to me in short snippets when I dare to listen. He longs to call me into His presence no matter where I am. I have not earned the right to call Him friend as Abraham was called friend, but I do know that being a daughter of God puts me in a place of being on holy ground all of the time whether those around me know it or not.

My prayer today is to listen a bit more. God cannot speak when one is filibustering, both in our minds and out loud. He needs silence, first in our souls and then with each other. I taught James 1:1-18 a few weeks ago, and a few days later I was put to the test. While part of the test was passed [due to God's rich grace], I failed another part of the test. I'm so in need of Him. How about you?