Every single one of my family members say that they “hate” jigsaw puzzles. Yet when we take a family vacation together it has become tradition to buy a new puzzle and spend our evening hours working it. Why? I think maybe it’s because it gives us the opportunity to work at something together as a team, while laughing, singing silly ditties, and eating lots and lots of junk food. Or, being slightly less magnanimous, I think that saying that we hate them (when we probably really love them) gives us an excuse to complain.
If that makes sense to you, your family is probably as “funny” as mine is. 🙂
Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts. Why? Because though once bound in chains Christ has set me free – FREE to live, to love, to dance, to sing, to be who God created me to be!
HOPE. We all need something to place our hope in don't we? In what or whom do you place yours? Share on XMost people place their hope in things of the world. Things that are sure to disappoint. Yes, even Christ followers often have a misplaced hope. Hope in the things that we think we can hold onto, such as family, friendships, health, jobs, finances, and all our possessions. Eventually, when these things disappoint (because they always will) we have a tendency to blame God, or question His presence in our lives, or even to walk away from Him completely.
Think back to my family, putting together a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. The tiny pieces all spread out across the table simply don’t make sense. We begin by looking for all the edge pieces first and then sorting pieces by color. As we work one little piece at a time all we can do is hope that the maker of the puzzle gave us all of the pieces and that they will eventually fit together into a whole and beautiful picture just like the one on the box.
Lately I’ve been feeling concerned by some circumstances in my own life and, to be honest, I’ve felt a bit shaken. I’ve encountered some health mysteries (along with some unrelated discoveries while the mysteries were being investigated) which have caused me to experience a whole range of emotions – confusion, denial, fear, dread, hope, and eventually, assurance that, “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV).
When I’m feeling afraid or confused by the way things are happening in my world, Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) has always been one of my go-to verses. “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Ahhh . . . hope. But think for a moment about the man who penned these Scripture verses. Jeremiah. The “weeping prophet.” His life was a mess! It was miserable! It didn’t make sense! Yet, though he may have done a bit of weeping over circumstances, his hope wasn’t in those circumstances, but in his Maker, Father God.
Are there things happening in your world that don’t make sense? Difficult things that you can’t piece together? I’m not telling you about my health concerns because I desire sympathy. In fact, drawing attention to myself is actually quite embarrassing to me. The reason I’m telling you my current struggles is because I have full confidence and hope that my Maker will bring all the confusing pieces together to create something beautiful in my life. He always has. He always will. I want to share that hope with you.
PRAYER: Papa God, for those reading this today who are struggling with uncertainty, fear, depression, lack of hope, or any other circumstance that overwhelms and makes no sense to them, please draw near to them as they seek and draw near to You. Bring them an assurance that when they place their trust in and follow You, all the pieces of their lives will come together into something good. Help them to see that You are the only real hope in this world and that you love them and desire only the best for them. Give a new awakening of hope to each one today. In Jesus’ name.
Peace comes when we quit trying to make sense of our circumstances and place our hope in Him. Share on X
Praying God’s blessings over each and every one of you today,
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Romans 8:28 is also one of my favorite scripture verses. I find hope every time I read it. Challenges can’t be avoided while we live but we can definitely do something to overcome them. Hope and faith will make us stronger than those tribulations. Thank you for this post. It’s very uplifting.
Always timely and meaningful, God ordained message of hope. Thank you.
Thank you for a beautiful post.
Blessings, Candy
Thinking about you: health scares are always very stressful. I hope you are able to find solutions that work for you. Your attitude is terrific. My kids love doing puzzles with their grandparents but not at home: puzzles are funny that way! Xo
Patti, I am so grateful I stopped here this morning. This Friday is the start of school vacation.I literally have doctor appointments every day but Monday through next week. Sure, some is the annual & routine but some is not. So this totally resonated with me. Before hitting reply, I prayed for you. I was encouraged this morning that while we wait for answers to health mysteries, we can wait with hope and assurance that nothing is a mystery to Him. Thank you for sharing every word in this post! Blessings!
Beautiful. Praying God will bring you peace and comfort through the hope you have in Him! Blessings, liz
Patti, you just keep bringin’ us back to Jesus.
“And hope does not disappoint because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.”
Patti, Your analogy is perfect. Looking at all the individual pieces of life some of which are awkwardly shaped and hard to imagine how they’ll fit we have hope. I’m so sorry you’re going through this struggle. I’m praying for you to the One who knows how all the pieces fit. Blessings my friend!
Hi Patti,
I love how even in the midst of your challenges and unknowns you are choosing to embrace hope. And I think it’s so interesting that your family doesn’t enjoy puzzles but you do them anyway! 🙂
You wrote about my favorite topic today: HOPE. Why? Because it changes everything! So glad I visited from WWI linkup, I’m #22!
Beautiful post-praying that God gives you strength and peace as you walk through your health issues. Praise God that we have hope in Him no matter our circumstances!
Patti, this is my first time visiting and I must say- I loved this post! The way you intertwined the putting together a puzzle and God knowing His plans for us… each.and.every.piece…. just beautiful! There is a hope in the One who knows all things. He has predestined every day of our lives and we can trust that He will fulfill each one of them! Neighbors with you today at Thought Provoking Thursday.
Beautiful sentiments about hope, Patti! A great reminder that hope is there, even if we can’t really see it through the chaos. Thanks so much for sharing this inspiring piece with us on #shinebloghop. Glad you were able to join us this week
Yes,hope is powerful, but we also must be truthful and know that not everyone gets miracles and not everyone is healed. My sn has schizophrenia , it is a terrible disease my hope rests in the fact that one day he will be fully restored, not to his pre psychosis self but to the perfect poetic peaceful beautiful person he was created to be in a different place.
Dear Debbie – Thank you for commenting on my post. I’m sorry about your son’s schizophrenia as I know firsthand how hard mental illness can be. We have had that heartbreaking experience within our own family. I hope I didn’t sound in my post as if I was saying that healing and miracles always come when we hope in God, because you are right that not everyone healed. In fact, of several things that the doctors have found in all the medical testing I’ve had is the possibility of a disease that has no cure. I don’t want it to be that, and I will pray for healing if it is, but I will trust and praise God no matter what the outcome. I wrote this post after about a month of fear and anxiety, and finally coming to a place of peace in knowing that Sovereign God holds every situation in His hands and He will care for me no matter what. My future and my hope are in my God who will sustain me through it all!
Blessings to you dear lady and prayers for you your sweet son.
First of all, let me say, what a gorgeous sunset photo! So beautiful!
I appreciated your post, because Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 are my life verses (I’m so needy, I have to have two!) I loved what you said: “I have full confidence and hope that my Maker will bring all the confusing pieces together to create something beautiful in my life. He always has. He always will. I want to share that hope with you.”
Same here! God is so good.