Have you ever had what you thought was a wonderful idea to start a new project? It was probably fueled by your visions of the end product – a dream fulfilled! At first, the enthusiasm was so motivating, it was a novelty in your life, and you could see it so clearly in your head. You would fall asleep at night dreaming of conversations about your success, all the people who would benefit from this idea, and how fulfilled you were going to be. You finally found what you were sure God wanted you to do!
BAM! Reality came busting through the door. People who promised to help didn’t, schedules got in the way, details popped up that were not on your radar, and the work was going so slowly. There was tiny movement, like three steps forward, then one or two steps backward. This was not at all what you pictured.
So what did you picture? God said He has a plan for you. Does that mean you have a seat on His private jet that will catapult you straight to success, by-passing all the losers down below that just couldn’t figure life out? God does have a plan for you and every single one of us, and the hard stuff is probably the most valuable part of His perfect plan.
Have you ever done a jigsaw puzzle – one of those thousand-piece puzzles that takes days or weeks to complete? You probably bought the puzzle because of the picture on the box. It inspired you and you couldn’t wait to finish it, maybe even frame it. While you were working on it, whenever you saw a piece that confused you and seemed totally out of place, you looked at the big, finished picture on the box to give you some kind of clue as to where the piece fit in. That picture was crucial to getting the puzzle finished.
Here’s the reality of God’s plan for our lives: We are not born in a box that has the finished picture of our lives on the cover. God certainly knows the picture, but we don’t. However, He does say that if we trust Him, we will never be disappointed. He actually says it many times.
As God is working out the big picture of you, He has some training in store. The training always requires the difficult things that make us think we are on the wrong track or incapable of the job ahead. We are not capable, but that’s what the training is for. And we can’t see the big picture, so it’s even harder. Our eyes belong on God and His promises, and He has promised a picture much better than our own plans.
The small, tedious puzzle pieces, the grunt work, are so necessary to create that big picture. God says, “Do not despise the days of small beginnings,”(Zechariah 4:10) because that’s where the inspiration God gave us begins. Those stressful, frustrating days of small beginnings give us refinement, strength, discernment, experience, and credibility, and they test our passion. But not without a fight. We will always have battles to win, giants to conquer, fears to dispel, and barriers to bust through. But how many times does a weightlifter get stronger without pulling a few muscles and dropping the barbell many times? Challenges are not failures. They are purposely designed barbells that God has given us to make us stronger and prepare us for the next step. Eventually, we will see why we had over a thousand puzzles pieces to figure out. and we will be stronger and wiser for it.
None of the pieces of your life are insignificant. Not a one.
Grace Notes 