God’s beautiful plan for redemption is kind of like a beautiful puzzle and each piece of the puzzle represents the life of a believer. On its own, that puzzle piece might be very beautiful, have a lot of pretty colors, or parts of an image, but the real beauty of that piece is not revealed until it is combined with the pieces around it to make the puzzle whole.

Your life is very beautiful (Psalm 139:14). You are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and are blessed with gifts and talents to serve God (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Your life overlaps with other believers, and together you will experience highs and lows of life in a fallen creation (Galatians 6:1-6).

But sometimes, when you can only see your one piece of the puzzle, it is hard to imagine where your life, your hardships, your sufferings, could fit into God’s plan. Only seeing a portion of the image leaves you with questions. Why did God lead me down this path only to have it end in a closed door? What was the purpose of this pain or hardship? Why did God allow this relationship to fail? The list can go on and on.

Sometimes we are fortunate that parts of the puzzle are revealed later in life. You didn’t get the job you hoped for because God was preparing someone else for it. God allowed you to experience pain and suffering because through it, one of your friends came to know Christ after seeing your faith in the trials. God allowed a relationship to fail because He knew it wasn’t what was best for you. Sometimes we get the “Ah-a” answers moment – and the puzzle piece “clicks” into place.

And sometimes we don’t. We might go our whole lifetime wondering why God allowed for certain events in our lives. But like the apostle Paul wrote in his book to the Romans “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

God sees the full picture when we only get to see one piece. God has a purpose for all the events in your life, the beautiful parts and the painful parts.