Several years ago at Christmastime my family and I put together a 1000 piece puzzle over the course of several days. Hour by hour we compared our heap of random puzzle pieces to the beautiful picture on the top of the puzzle box and one-by-one connected the pieces until each one fit perfectly into the picture.
Puzzles remind me of my Creator’s loving design for my life...
There are many aspects of my life that I have realized are “unalterable”: my hair, height, eyes, smile, physical capabilities, parents, siblings, birth order, and gender. Growing up there were a few “unalterables” in my life that I didn’t understand and wasn’t always happy about. I would compare myself with other girls and my family with other families. Because I didn’t trust some of God’s plans for me I felt some discontentment.
The Lord used Romans 9:20 to begin leading me to trust the Lord with every “unalterable” puzzle piece in my life.
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
And in Isaiah 55:9 God says,
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
I began to realize that the Lord can see the finished picture and HE has designed every puzzle piece of MY life to fit perfectly into to His good purposes – for His glory and my joy in Him!
Proverbs 3:5 tells me to TRUST… not just anyone, but to trust my wise and loving Father! “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
God is continuing to teach me not only to accept His design for my life but also to EMBRACE it. This has been especially true for me in understanding God’s plan for me as a female.
When I was in middle school I often tried to be “as good as the boys” in sports and academic activities. I didn’t want to feel inferior or different from them. In high school however, I began reading more and more about God’s BEAUTIFUL design in creating male and female distinct from each other, equal in worth, with different roles!
As I read Scriptures that shed light on this topic and read books that broadened my understanding, I realized more and more how GOOD God’s design is for men and women. It is a beautiful thing to be a girl! It is a beautiful thing to embrace femininity!
Femininity - I saw in Scripture that I was created to be a helper, encourager, support, and nurturer… not only in the future as an adult, but also in various ways in my youth!
Masculinity - In His good design I realized that God gave guys a different role. To them, a unique responsibility to lead, provide, and protect had been given.
Although I am far from perfect in embracing femininity, God continues to remind me of His wisdom in creating men and women differently. It is so freeing knowing that I don’t have to compete for significance with guys, but instead can step-by-step embrace femininity and allow God to use our gender differences for His glory at home, Church, work, and in the world!
It is freeing to trust God’s purposes for each puzzle piece!
God doesn’t make mistakes. Every “unalterable” puzzle piece in my life (and yours!) is perfectly designed by God and fits into His good plans perfectly!
My Heavenly Father continues to remind me how foolish it is to pick up puzzle pieces from my life and compare them with puzzle pieces in other people’s lives. I can trust Him because He can see the entire finished picture of my life and He is using each piece for my good and His glory! He has given me my hair, height, eyes, smile, physical capabilities, parents, siblings, birth order, and gender – on PURPOSE and He never makes mistakes! Thank You, Father for Your good designs!
No comments:
Post a Comment