Putting Together the Pieces

 

A mysterious shoebox-sized package appeared on our doorstep one evening before my birthday. The return address gave a clue—it was from my youngest sister in Bakersfield.

Then I remembered that my two sisters were working together on a new hobby, making things using stained glass. They were enjoying it, in spite of a few accidental cuts from glass shards!

 Learning the art was a big, time-consuming undertaking. It first required the purchase of patterns, brightly colored glass, copper foil tape, and several specialized tools. Then, the pattern pieces had to be traced onto the glass, precisely cut with a glass cutter or similar tool. and the edges taped with copper foil tape.

Once those steps were completed, the pieces were reassembled and bonded together using a sauntering iron. It didn’t take long before they were turning out beautiful suncatchers and other stained-glass gifts for people. Creative ladies!

My guess was right! Inside the box was a birthday card and two suncatchers… one was of a sun-flower and the other of Mary and Joseph holding the baby Jesus. Seeing the light reflected through them has been a source of delight and beauty. Thank you, sisters, for the surprise!

Last Christmas, Al and I received a combined gift also comprised of many small, colorful pieces. However, on that occasion, we were the ones who had to put them together! It was a 1,000-piece puzzle, that when completed was an artist’s rendition of the night sky over Half Dome, in Yosemite National Park. I figured that if we put in one piece of the puzzle every night, we’d be done in a little less than three years!

Well, we are behind schedule; however, with the four sides of the long rectangular puzzle and the Merced River in the foreground of the picture completed, it is getting easier to find missing pieces. Working as a team, Al uses the picture to find out where exactly a puzzle piece is located in relation to the completed section and what colors it might be, while I search for one that has the right size and shape.

Even working together, it takes a lot of time to find a single piece. When we do, he and I feel better knowing that there is one less piece to find! Sometimes a piece seems to fit in a vacant place with just a little gap or maybe a slight difference in pattern or color. But it has to be exactly right.

Just as my sisters have a pattern to follow for each of their stained-glass projects, and just as the picture shows us the completed puzzle, so the Bible reveals an outline of God’s plan for the redemption of all mankind. The Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, God’s Son, and the coming of God’s kingdom to earth. They didn’t have the completed picture, just glimpses of it.

Jesus fulfilled their prophecies of the Messiah through the events of His life, the testimonies of others and His own words. By trusting in Jesus, we have the hope of eternal life, of our sins being forgiven and of being changed through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae (in modern day Turkey) that he had been commissioned by God to present to them “…the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25b-27 NIV)