Jesus’ death was like an incomplete puzzle to those who loved Him.
His disciples had completely rerouted their lives to follow Him because they truly believed that Jesus was their long-awaited MESSIAH. They were just beginning to put all the pieces in place … and THEN, it was OVER … or so they thought. But, if the Resurrection Story of Jesus teaches us ANYthing, it teaches us that there’s always MORE to the story. There’s always a BIGGER picture—a broader explanation—a PLAN that includes every detail where nothing is lost.
God is a God of order—but a sure sign that God is at work IS WHEN life appears to be in a jumbled mess. Chaos. God works best when He’s bringing order out of chaos—creating something from NOTHING. When we feel broken and disconnected, that’s when we remember that Jesus, too, allowed Himself to be broken and disconnected—FOR US. As proof that He is able to put anyone back together. In fact, when our life puzzle lays in a hopeless pile of pieces, God is not overwhelmed—He is reassembling. No pieces are missing—they’re just waiting for placement. In our chaos, He IS the “I AM”—and He IS always working toward His perfect orderly arrangement. When He will truly be able to say, “It is FINISHED.”
It has been noted that the opposite of chaos (Greek: khaos: “abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty”) is not stasis (“inactivity, standing still”). It’s also not extreme order—order that chokes out all life and change. No. In Greek, the opposite of chaos is kosmos: “good order, orderly arrangement.” God’s perfect finished PLAN is this: harmonious, life-generating order. It is complete beauty. Though we seem unfinished here and now, yet we are complete. Because in the mind of God, we are already an essential part of HIS beautiful, eternal—FINISHED—puzzle.
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 KJV)
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2 KJV)
One more thought: When we pray, we aim our prayers at the desired result: Healing. Salvation. Deliverance. Wisdom. But we have no idea how many steps there are in God’s procedure to bring that perfect result to fruition. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8 KJV)
LIFE is a PROCESS. God has given us “exceeding great and precious promises” regarding our ultimate placement in His kingdom. He’s given us the promise, but He doesn’t always reveal the process to it. The process is the “MORE to the story” that we don’t always see.
Pastor Wes Comer recently made an interesting observation: the Old Testament is full of prophesies about the Messiah, which was to come—His birth and life, His rule and reign, even His suffering. But there is little prophesied specifically about His death, and Jesus didn’t give specifics ahead of time either. He knew His death was the process to the promise. Jesus often hid the process—for if His disciples had fully understood the difficulty of the process from the beginning, they might not have had the faith to trust the promise. For the same reason, Jesus doesn’t let us see the process to the promise in our own lives either.
LIFE is a PUZZLE. Perhaps you are looking at a piece in your hand—a situation, a diagnosis, a dilemma—and it looks impossible that THIS would fit into any perfect plan of God. Nothing points to your happiness OR His glory. It’s too colorless—too lifeless—too hopeless, and there’s nothing to suggest that it would ultimately interlock with anything GOOD.
That’s how it APPEARS to YOU, but perhaps you’re looking at the wrong side. Turn it over. Turn the piece over to Jesus. Once you do that, you begin to see how the colors blend and the patterns begin to match. God makes EVERYTHING fit. Every dark color, every irregular shape—piece by piece, He’s got a place where it fits in the BIG picture. The “MORE” to your story is Jesus. He will complete what He started. Remember—when Jesus was on the cross, His famous last words were: “IT IS FINISHED!”
Patience! It could be that the “impossible” piece in YOUR hand is the VERY ONE that God is looking for to complete His perfect design!
“Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4 KJV)
