"What dis called?"

Two year old Howie pulled a small toy out of the bottom kitchen drawer where this Gramma keeps "distractions" for when I am trying to prepare supper.

"What dis called?" he asked.

"Well, Howie, that's a puzzle," I explained.  "And to know what it is, you have to keep moving the pieces around until they make sense.  The picture is just mixed up.  What do you think it will be?"

"Fish," he said emphatically.  "It's a fish."

"Let's move the pieces around until we find the solution,"  I said.  One piece slid over to the left, another down, one up.  At times, it seemed impossible, as if all these puzzle pieces were unrelated and random.  Quite frankly, I had no idea what I was doing. But over time as we continued working on it, moving the pieces around, suddenly it did make sense.  Despite initial appearances and the time it took, there was purpose in it after all.

"A bird!" Howie exclaimed.  It was not what he expected the pieces to form, but a design and a delight, nonetheless.

Sometimes, well, the pieces of life seem scattered and random, and literally I am asking God, "what dis called, LORD?"  At times, we all live in mystery.  What am I doing here? What is Your purpose in this? Where should I go? Or even, what is this strange mixed up relationship/situation/complication doing in my life?

What am I supposed to do, LORD?  This is a mystery to me.

"Keep moving the pieces around,
                  and follow Me into it."

The result,
the destination,
the purpose,
the solution,
His design in it all
   encompasses more dimensions
than I can ever imagine.

We are called to be stewards
            of the mysteries of God.*
Sometimes there is a sudden revealing,
at times a long enduring,
significant pieces may not yet be on the table,
and perhaps,
      the whole picture will be only revealed
on the Other Side of life.

But God is good.
You can stake your life on that.

We do not know what to do,
but our eyes are upon You.

                       2 Chronicles 20.12


*...as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.
                       1 Corinthians 4.1