Life is a Puzzle . . . ?

 

 

READ Matthew 1-4

This illustration has been used before, but these days I’m more aware than ever that life is a jigsaw puzzle. How do all the bits and pieces fit together? Some of it, even lots of it seems random and without purpose.

Yet, when reading Genesis, especially the life of Joseph, it seems important to look at the big picture, the highlights. The Bible does not record anyone’s story with “He got up, washed and got dressed” but instead tells only what is necessary to see the hand of God. For instance, the events recorded about Abraham’s life were sometimes decades apart. Where do I get the idea that every little event should include something significant? I rather suspect it is a selfish desire to be more important than I am?

Today, the Holy Spirit stopped me in the middle of Joseph’s genealogy with these words: “And Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph . . . .:” (Matthew 1:6–7)

David’s huge sin of taking another man’s life and his wife put their son and successive generations in the lineage of the Messiah. God used David’s outrageous flub-up for His purposes. Have I ever supposed that God can or is using the sins I commit for His purposes? That is totally humbling. I’d much rather see Him using success but realize He is God and I am just a bunch of puzzle pieces.

More evidence of God’s thinking is where Jesus was born. We hear the pastor’s preach that it wasn’t in a palace or a notable place. Yet this little town has some history. It is David’s birthplace, meaningful because the Messiah was to be from David’s family tree: “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6)

God knows my history. He wove the history concerning David and Jesus and He is weaving mine. I cannot see it because I’m still in it. The history in the Bible yells at me to stop being anxious about putting the puzzle together. By God’s design I cannot see the picture on the box and need to leave it to Him.

The details will be taken care of as well. The Magi could have naively reported Jesus’ location to the king who wanted Him dead, but they were “warned in a dream not to return to Herod (and) they departed to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12) God put the pieces together to protect the life of this child who would be the Savior of the world. He sent away the Magi then sent this little family on a trip.

After their ‘vacation’ in Egypt, Joseph and Mary returned but when Joseph “heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22–23)

This was a nothing city, less than 500 population and never mentioned by anyone prior to the NT. Human thinking would put Jesus is a place where He could be significant, but the NT says He was not received by those in that small place where everyone would know Him and His parents. Yet God put Him there. How do I know what is important to God?

Chapter 4 begins with Jesus’ temptation. I’m not even significant, yet the enemy harps at me often, mostly to make me stop praying. Surely God does not want the devil to harass me but the Bible says, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) What do I know?

The Father planned that His Son should be tested. This temptation is complex in some ways but from my point of view, the enemy is trying to get Jesus to focus on daily necessities, protection, and power. It is easy to think that I would never ask the devil to feed me, protect me, or empower me, but if I am not focusing on God, who am I trusting? The world, the flesh (my old nature, myself) and the devil? Jesus never took His Father’s care for granted. His responses pointed to the Master Puzzle Maker.

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 

“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

And “from that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ” (Matthew 4:17) His focus never strayed.

OBEY. This says: know God’s Word, trust His promises, worship and serve Him, and repent for all those times that I think I need to make sense of what He is doing with all my bits and pieces instead of just trusting Him.