The other side of the puzzle

One of the reasons we have a glass-topped coffee table was for function, not appearance.  When our girls were younger, our family enjoyed doing puzzles together.  We had acquired as a gift a couple of puzzles that needed another means of looking at them. Like all the others, these two particular puzzles formed a picture on one side.  But unlike most, the picture on the box did not directly look like the finished product, and all the pieces in these puzzles were cut exactly alike, adding substantially to the proverbial question, "How does this fit together?"

What may seem obvious and likely was often not the right choice, impacting not just that one piece but the outcome.  Because when one chosen piece was placed incorrectly, the others could not find their rightful place.  What appeared obvious was not always correct.  What was hurriedly placed led often to deep frustration and a lot of undoing.

The only way to determine correct placement was not by the picture, but by looking at the other side of the puzzle, hence the advantage of the glass top table.  On the other side of the pieces were words, such as "congratulations," that connected one piece to another.  When placed correctly, both sides of the puzzle worked together.  So when the girls were doing those puzzles, they continually checked both sides to get it right.  They crawled under the table and looked up, conferring with the other side of the puzzle.

Often, I find a selection of what looks like random puzzle pieces in front of me.  Which way do I go?  Which decision do I make?  What do I do with THIS?  Some things don't look like they fit at all, some pieces I just don't know what to do with, and some I don't think I want at all.

What will God make of this?

How do I know what to do and what piece to choose, so to speak, when I don't even know what picture is emerging or what is God's design in this, or even the outcome?

Look on the other side for it to say Soli Deo Gloria, written all over every thing I do and say, every piece, every decision, every direction "Glory to God Alone."  When I am focused on His glory, I cannot go wrong. I am no longer driven by the picture I might have in mind, but by what really matters.

How does this fit together?
       Glory to God Alone.

And with that decision, that which is far too big for me to comprehend or even imagine breaks into my picture, no longer a printed image on flat cardboard, but that which is eternally dimensional, wider, deeper, higher than I can know.

Then David inquired of the LORD again.
And the LORD answered him...

                          1 Samuel 23 .4

Am I seeking out God's glory in this?
And not just the answer?
Am I listening to Him?
Am I heeding His voice?
His path will be revealed,
   often in the most unexpected ways,
for His glory alone.

He is before all things,
   and in Him,
            all things hold together.

                Colossians 1.17