Puzzling Prayer
'Puzzling' is a contemplative time as I relax and enjoy music playing in the background. My eyes scan the separated pieces on the table attempting to match shape and size, while my mind wanders with the words of the worship song in longing for more wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. The scattered pieces invite a prayer for healing of what may still be the broken and unrecognized pieces of my life story.
Our lives are pulled apart by stress, worry, anxiety, hurts, fears and striving to meet expectations. They grip and tug at our inner selves. Jesus values each piece and desires wholeness. After multiplying the 5 loaves of bread to satisfy 5,000 or more hungry bodies, he told his disciples to gather up the broken pieces (Mark 8:8). Every piece and particle of my life is valuable. God redeems each piece. He puts me back together reckoning the ill-shaped pieces once again. He makes space for each part and separates out what may not be needed anymore.
Puzzling also invites me to rest in the ‘mystery’ of the unknown and not knowing how everything fits together quite yet. Understanding isn’t required for faith, we only need to trust and believe God will create a beautiful picture in time. Growing older seems to involve fitting or finding missing pieces of our past and welcoming them into God’s character of goodness and love. I invite you to pray my prayer with me:
Puzzling Prayer
Father, I lay out the pieces of my life
On the altar and watch
I wait for You.
I give You my beautiful and ugly
Square, rounded, ill-fitting,
Jagged pieces.
I give You my dreams, hopes, expectations,
Desires, shoulds, wants and needs,
Longings for You.
Show me Your borders and boundaries,
Colors, revelation, and perspective.
Remind me YOU are the Designer.
Enlighten me to Your in-sights,
You make the dark and the light
Beautiful in Your time.
Thank You for putting me back together.
Thank You for design,
Lines, dark and light colors,
Patterns in my life.
Thank You for time.
Patience.
As You make
Everything beautiful
In days, weeks, months,
Even years.
Time to ponder, wait,
Rest in Your hands.
Father, I surrender all the pieces of my life
On the altar and wait for You.
I trust in You.
Amen.
I’m so thankful for time to reflect on our journeys of faith during our recent retreat. Each of our stories is an account of remembering the ways we have experienced the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Re-member-ing means, literally, piecing together again what has become fragmented or broken. — Margaret Silf, Inner Compass
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. 1 Thess. 5:23 MSG
- How are you making space to allow God to bring the pieces of your body, soul and spirit into wholeness?
- Notice God's grace to remember the fragments of your life and his invitation toward wholeness in him.
Plan to join us for our next silent directed retreat. Take the time to step out of the traffic of daily life, to listen to God’s voice and be loved by him.