Puzzle Pieces

It is interesting how the stories we tell reflect the values of our society. As children, most of us heard the tale of Goldilocks, the impudent girl who broke into the bears’ home, ate their food, destroyed their furniture, and slept in their bed. However, as we know, Goldilocks was no ordinary intruder- she didn’t mean to leave behind a trail of destruction; she only wanted to be comfortable. She only wanted everything to be just right.

Comfort. Belonging. That feeling of being “just right”. Much like Goldilocks, we all want to find that place where we fit. The desire to belong is ingrained in us since birth. From the very first day of school children struggle to find their “crowd”, unconsciously creating labels to describe themselves and others (nerd, jock, geek, prep) and striving to get into that “right” group. High school and college aged students go to seminars and take personality assessments in order to find the perfect career, with the constant fear that if they pick the wrong path, their lives will collapse in ruin. Teenage girls watch sappy romance movies, wishing they could find “the one” for them. The list goes on and on, for our whole lives.

For something that is so universally sought after, few people actually achieve that perfect sensation of belonging.

For Christians with the added responsibility of living a God-honoring life, fitting in becomes even harder. While this is to be expected, (Jesus made it plainly obvious in John 15:19 that we are “not of this world”), even among other Christians in our churches and bible studies, we sometimes still feel a restlessness, as if we are missing something. So what’s up? Why do we drift through place after place that just doesn’t fit? How do we figure out where we belong?

I believe there are two main reasons why we feel unfulfilled in life. First, (and this one is the obvious one) we often feel out of place because we are in the wrong place.

Makes sense, right? If I am trying to buy groceries at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I am going to be very disappointed, because they are a store meant for home decor supplies. Not only will I not buy the groceries I came for, but I will waste my time and maybe buy something I don’t even need instead! In the same way, many of us are searching for fulfillment in all the wrong places. We look for approval from our friends or promotion from our boss. We think, “If I could just do X, I would feel like I really belong here.” But what if we are trying too hard to impress the wrong people?

While we might not be doing drugs or putting graffiti on shop windows with a gang, we can still be trying to appear cool to people who are not necessarily godly influences. And that’s not OK. We will never feel free to be who God created us to be if we are trying to squeeze our light into a mold that only fits darkness.

Think of it this way: We are all individual puzzle pieces in a masterpiece God is creating, each with our own specific shape and our own unique colors. No other puzzle piece is like we are, and if we were to be lost, the puzzle would be incomplete.

Now, with this analogy in mind, if I try to put a blue ocean puzzle piece into a desert puzzle, it is not going to work out. Since it is not the right puzzle, the piece won’t fit, and it may even get stuck, tearing itself or the other piece around it when it is removed. Even if it were to fit into a space, the color is completely wrong. Similarly, we might be sticking out like a sore thumb because we are in the wrong “puzzle” in life.

Some of us may be saying, “But wait! I am not in the wrong puzzle. I feel like I am exactly in the place God wants me, but I still feel unfulfilled. I have been going to church for years. I even help out with the church nursery on Sundays. What could I be doing wrong?”

Sometimes, we might not be in the wrong place, but we are serving the wrong purpose.

Even if we are in the right puzzle, we can still try to squeeze ourselves into the wrong spot. If God has gifted me with the talent to draw and create, but instead I am watching babies in the church nursery, chances are, I won’t feel like I fit in.

I believe that our sense of belonging is very important to God. If not, why would he speak of being unified together the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians? The key to living a life that is fulfilling is to find our place and our purpose in God’s Kingdom plan, and put our full effort into serving Him there.

Who knows? We might be the final pieces of the masterpiece God has designed.