communion

 wrote this one 10/26/14, I believe as the communion meditation at the church I was attending at the time.

Phil 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

I loved doing jigsaw puzzles when I was little—if I had time, I’d still do them on occasion. I used to work on them over the span of days; I would sit at the table in our family room upstairs and put together 100, 500, 1000+ piece puzzles, losing track of time, sometimes putting them together systematically—starting at the edges of the picture and working my way in—and sometimes fitting things together with no real rhyme or reason. The puzzles never looked like much in the process, but once I finished them, the mountain scene or the giant Bengal tiger staring up at me from the table made up for all the time that I spent trying to make sense of everything.

Fast forward to now…I’m at the point in medical school where everyone starts trying to figure out their plans for the future—what they want to specialize in, where they’d most like to live while doing residency, whether they want to eventually raise a family…there’s a lot to think about. And I’ll be honest: many times within this process, I’ve felt like I have to make these plans completely on my own. I’ve felt overwhelmed. I’ve found myself believing the lie that God is there but He’s not active…more often than I’d like to admit.

But on a Sunday not too long ago, God met me after service and gave me a brief glimpse of Himself, using the childhood memory I mentioned before. I saw Him sitting at a table, fitting jigsaw pieces together…slowly, carefully. He showed me that He is fitting me together, even when I don’t feel Him doing so, even if things don’t seem to make sense for days or weeks or even years. In that moment, He reminded me that I can’t put myself or my future together; only He can do that.

Phil 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the ways that you speak to us. I thank you for little reminders that you’re there—but not just “there,” here…ACTIVE in our lives. Since the very beginning, from creation to the cross and beyond, you’ve been fitting the puzzle pieces of our lives together…you’ve had a plan for us. Forgive us for the times when we’ve tried to make sense of things on our own, and help us to rest in the fact that you are continually working in us and through us. Amen.