Puzzled By Life? Thyme4Faith

SHARE some insight into how God fits together all the pieces of your life.

Puzzled By Life?

Have you ever felt puzzled by life? Thought why me? Or wondered why life had to be filled with so many difficult experiences? Sometimes there are challenges we struggle with for many years. Unable to make sense of why they don’t improve. There can also be an unexpected crisis that comes at you out of left field. Leaving you stunned and uncertain how to move ahead.

Fear & Failure

I have found myself squarely in this camp in a number of life experiences. One in particular is my former career life. As a Sales professional, my effort, or how well I was liked by clients, didn’t matter. All that mattered was whether I closed the deal. For many years I labored. Deal after deal, job after job, with very little success. My pleas to God for something to go right seemed to fall on deaf ears. Yet, I still managed to stay employed. I was paid well and able to meet the bills and save for retirement. Then ALS struck. Devastated by this diagnosis, I stepped away from work to spend time with my hubby and to care for him. While I was relieved to leave behind an unproductive work life, I still felt puzzled by my many years of failure.

God Reveals the Bigger Picture

On one of my long walks and commune times with God, I reflected on the changes that had happened in my life. As I considered my current situation, God revealed something to me. If I had been wildly successful in my career, it would have been more difficult to quit work as early as I did. My initial plan had been to work for several years until Mike actually needed my care. But spending time together traveling and making memories with Mike while he was still able, was definitely the better route to take. God had a plan during those challenging years of my career. He ensured I was provided for financially. He built some skills that will serve me throughout my life. Yet He never tethered my self-worth to my career success. Suddenly I realized God did not answer my prayers for success because He had the bigger picture in mind.

Inspiration & Recommendation

I recently just finished the book Deeper: Living in the Reality of God’s Love by Debbie Alsdorf. I have recommended this life changing book to a number of friends. In Chapter 10 of her book, Debbie talks about how much easier it is to put together a puzzle after we’ve seen the picture on the cover of the box. But our lives are like a puzzle where we don’t have the completed picture. Just all the random, odd-shaped pieces which often don’t make sense. Debbie explains how faith in God supports us in these times: 

“We have no idea what the finished picture is. The good news is that God does. Our creator who formed us in our mother’s womb, who wrote our days in his book before one of them came to be, knows the planned picture of our lives.”

Debbie Alsdorf, author of Living in the Reality of God’s Love

As she goes deeper, she says:

“I am convinced that we are all part of a greater story and that life is a much bigger picture than we realize. When we learn to live according to the bigger picture, life is different. Our circumstances may not change, but we change. When our focus is on the end result that God knows, we begin to live by faith and not by what we see. In this place it begins to make sense to praise God in every situation we find ourselves in.”

Debbie Alsdorf, author of Living in the Reality of God’s Love

I recognize it can be hard to function, knowing we really do not have control over our lives. So I will leave you with these words of advice that Debbie offers:

“Big Picture Living – Eternal Focus

Recognizing that God knows the plan
Realizing that He guides the path
Relying on His greater good and purpose
Keeping your focus fixed on the truth that everything is about a bigger picture, and God knows that picture”

Debbie Alsdorf, author of Living in the Reality of God’s Love

Trust in the God who made you and who cherishes you. Have patience for the many trials of life. If you let Him, He will not waste a single tear. He will fit every piece together and reveal His loving plan for your life.