Puzzle Pieces
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
I was recently able to catch up with a friend over coffee, and like the college girls we are, we ended up talking about dating and relationships. Thankfully, this is a wonderful friend God blessed me with who pushes me towards the Lord and reminds me that everything is from Him and we should glorify Him in everything we do. Sadly, both of us recently got out of relationships and were just having a little girl talk about how we’re feeling and how God’s been teaching us in singleness, which is truly a beautiful thing.
And that’s when she said it. “I’ve learned that in relationships people fit together like puzzle pieces. And God has been teaching me that I’m not a universal puzzle piece that’s just gonna fit with every good guy I meet.”
Wow. My friend’s wisdom as a college student doesn’t cease to amaze me. But those words are so so true. Just because you meet someone who you build a friendship with and are pursuing God with, doesn’t mean you are automatically going to be able to fit together as a couple. And that’s okay.
God didn’t create us all to be “universal puzzle pieces” that are going to be able to fit with whoever we want. And just because you don’t fit with someone, doesn’t mean the relationship was wrong at that time. I mean, God does have all things happen for His plan and purpose after all.
So this post is particularly for my high school and college friends. Girls and boys. You’re not going to fit with everyone. And you definitely, absolutely should not change yourself to try and make yourself fit with one person.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made and God has a purpose and plan for your life, and someone someday will come along whose puzzle piece fits along with yours. No reason to go searching for it or try to force it. It all happens in God’s timing.
As the all too well-known Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Don’t try and make yourself a universal puzzle piece. You are a beautiful human being created in the image of God. An individual, who should be loved for the person God created them to be, not someone they change themselves into. Also, don’t go searching for a piece that fits because it will only lead to heartbreak and loneliness, when you could be spending your time in the Word, learning who God created you as. When His timing is right, your piece will come.
And appreciate the pieces that didn’t fit. Just because a particular person wasn’t right for you, they were right for you at the time and God had a purpose and a plan in that relationship for both of you, so cherish your past relationships.
For me personally, I’m going to sit back in this period of singleness and try to listen and learn whatever it is God is trying to teach me. My puzzle piece will fit somewhere, someday.