The Case of the Missing Puzzle Piece

I’m a puzzler…one who truly enjoys the challenge of a good puzzle. I prefer 500 - 1000 pieces, although I've done one that was 1500 pieces. What a monster! I love opening the box, then the bag and emptying out all the fresh, new pieces. The little bits of paper dust suddenly become free, and a familiar smell fills the room as I gaze at the infinite shapes and colors contained in the box bottom. It’s a mad and concentrated dash to put the border together…and there’s always a piece or two that elude me, until finally the border is done. Now I can decide which section to attack first. I usually work very intensely, sometimes for hours, looking for that next connection, and then the next - becoming intimately familiar with the coloring and shapes in this artistic riddle. Jackpot if I connect a piece or group of pieces to the border! I begin separating pieces into like color color groups, then turning them until the orientation matches the picture on the outside of the box. Each piece only fits in one place. Only one.

Last night, I finished the second puzzle in two weeks – I’m kind of on a roll, I guess. This one was an outdoors scene – a cabin near a creek, with beautiful fall trees and a few raccoons at the water. A lot of the colors were similar, and it had a watercolor effect for an extra challenge. Throughout the week I zeroed in first on the border, then the cabin, then the raccoons, then some of the rocks. I was feeling elated and conquering this one in record time! Then I got stuck. There was a piece I could not find. I turned every remaining piece over to see the coloring – I needed a piece with some light gray where the rocks were…and there just wasn’t one. It had 4 outties so I knew exactly what shape I was looking for. Desperately, I tried every piece in that shape, even if the coloring wasn’t right. Nothing. I went to bed frustrated, but determined to find it the next day. 

Yesterday. I revisited the dark water section and boom! I was connecting piece after piece, moving up into the trees and then the bright orange and yellow leaves. With less available pieces, I revisited the ONE. The missing piece of my rock. It had to be there. Hadn’t I carefully emptied the pieces into the box, and hadn’t I meticulously made sure any piece that fell to the floor was immediately picked up? Yes, I had. Once again, I tried every piece that was the right shape – 4 outties, no holes, no bubble ends or funky pointy parts. Still nothing. Exasperated, I decided to just finish the rest of the puzzle, because surely my piece would finally be the only one left. I would chuckle at myself for getting so worked up when it was right there all along. Piece by piece, the entire puzzle became complete. There is nothing like the satisfaction of putting in the LAST puzzle piece. Only…it wasn’t there. Are you kidding me? Did the manufacturer make a mistake? I was so disappointed, and I got up out of my chair. It was late and I needed to go to bed, so I started putting things away and turning off lights. That’s when I saw it. Down on the floor, under the dining room table I’d been working at for nights. It’s as if heaven opened up and shined a light on my one, lone missing piece. I picked it up, turned it over and sure enough – 4 outties and light gray. As I put the final piece in place, I felt such satisfaction. That piece had probably been on the floor almost the entire week; why I didn’t see it before, I don’t know. But I closed up the box and placed it on top of the puzzle – a sign that the work was finished.

Today, as I was driving to work and thinking (which I often do while driving), the Lord spoke to me about “the missing puzzle piece.” He reminded me that I cannot fill my missing pieces with an imitation – something that looks like it will fit. Just like my puzzle, no matter how many times I tried pieces that looked right, only one was going to fit the empty space. Only one.

How many times have I tried to fill a space with something that really didn’t fit? Too many times. But the Lord is gentle in His reminders and His patience. He is gracious in His affection, and He is boundless in His love. Scripture tells us His grace is enough for me and His mercies are new every morning, and His kindness lasts forever. But I have a part to play – to look for the right pieces that only He can provide. His joy. His peace. His love. His truth. Otherwise I’m just a frustrated puzzler with an unfinished puzzle who doesn’t realize the perfect missing piece is right in front of me.

I think St. Augustine put it best when he said, "Our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you." I believe 2017 is a year for me to find that missing piece and rest completely in Jesus. Yes and Amen.

Quote from Augustine of Hippo (354-430), in Confessions.