The Only Way to Make Life’s Puzzle Pieces Fit Together

(I’ve created this video in case you’d rather watch than read. But you might also want to check out the puzzle and graphics below.)

Life’s Puzzle Pieces

Ever try to make two puzzle pieces fit together that don’t belong? Yeah, me too. And life can be a lot like that, can’t it?

One of the most difficult things for me in planning and setting goals for a new year is how to make all of life’s puzzle pieces fit together. Like many of you, I wear several hats, and I usually have more to do than what I could ever possibly have time for.

Last year, I found myself getting lost in the mix with little to no time for my spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The end result was that the rest of my life also seemed disjointed.

Ever feel this way?

God Centered Lives Jigsaw Puzzle

Because of this, I began asking myself some pretty tough questions. How could I better manage this life God gave me? How could I serve Him with my complete being without feeling like I was on a hamster wheel–constantly moving, but making very little or no forward progress?

A Life Centered on Self

During December 2014, I realized I had to make some changes in the new year. Simply put, I needed to find a way to be a better steward of life. I looked into several different programs that dealt with time and task management, because my life seemed so out of control and on a collision course with major burnout.

But the more I looked into these programs–all of which offered helpful advice in different ways–I realized one fundamental problem. Often our attempts at planning and setting goals are focused on us. Honestly, it’s an easy thing to do. When things aren’t going well  we naturally turn inward in an attempt to make sense of the nonsense.

But notice what happens when I put myself as the focus of my planning and goal-setting. First off, by the simple principle of substitution, God is pushed to the fringes of my life. Even my relationship to Him becomes more about me than Him.

Because of that one puzzle piece being out of proper alignment, the other pieces of my life get out of whack as well. In fact, some of those pieces go MIA. I can’t make proper decisions or decide where I need to focus my efforts because in this scenario my life focus is in the wrong place.

A Life Centered on God

As I prayed through the process of setting goals, I asked the Lord to help me know where and how to focus my time. I was immediately reminded of how the young nation of Israel, in their trek through the wilderness, were told by God to set up camp in a specific layout with the Tabernacle–which represented God’s Presence with them–at the very center of their lives.

This nudge by God’s Spirit helped me realize that I can’t even hope to have the various puzzle pieces of my life fit together any other way than a God-centered life.

God is our Creator. He is the one in charge–not just of my dust speck of a life–but of everything. Not only that, He sent His only Son to redeem us from sin and death. Our lives are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

When I put God in His rightful place in my life, look what happens. Everything lines up in its proper position. Because my focus is on Him instead of self, the pieces of my life all fit together.

The Connection Between Life’s Puzzle Pieces and Peace

The Hebrew word for ‘peace’ is ‘shalom,’ which at its very root definition means ‘complete’ and ‘whole.’ The antithesis of peace is conflict, chaos, and confusion. When we put self at the center, the result is conflict, chaos, and confusion. But when our lives are God-centered, the result is peace, wholeness, completeness, and an integration of who we are.

Isn’t that something we all want? I know I do.

But there’s only one way for that to truly happen, and it’s NOT found in the system of putting self at the center. These verses confirm all that we’ve discussed here today.

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ~Mark 12:30 (NASB)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. -Matthew 6:33 (NASB)

In other words, we all need to allow God His rightful place at the center. Our lives aren’t about us, but Him. Only then will life’s puzzle pieces fall into place.

Wishing you all a blessed year of God-centered living.

Shalom,