I’ve always been interested in crafts and other hobbies but the hobby that has endured and remains my favorite is reading. Over the years, my tastes have changed and, currently, my favorite genre is mystery. I also like some suspense and thriller style action books.
I think that what appeals to me most, about mysteries, is that I feel as if I am part of the story. I can solve the whodunnit along with the current sleuth. Solving the crime involves looking for missing pieces and trying to put the jumble together for the solution. I feel a bit cheated if the mystery is solved in the last moment by a drop of information that no one could ever have foreseen.
Life is somewhat like a mystery too. We try to solve problems or questions every day. There are inherent questions that each of us struggle with, too. Who am I? Why am I here? What made me? Where will I go when I leave this life? Is there something more out there? It’s been that way throughout time, as each generation lives its life and is replaced by another. We all want to know if there is some higher purpose, if we are more that what is plainly seen by all.
I know, for myself, that the inherent me is the same as it has always been. I am the same person now that I have been my whole life. I have learned much and so my thoughts are more mature but I still know that the little girl I once was is still right here.
I have always wanted to solve things. One of my favorite things to do as a child (and still as an adult) is to put together a puzzle. In a sense, puzzles are also a mystery. You need to solve the disorder to complete it. There’s something extremely satisfying about taking a jumble and turning it into a picture that makes sense in a disorderly world.
Nothing frustrates me quite as much as working on a 1,000 piece puzzle only to find that, even though it was brand new, it is missing a piece. To me, even though I had put in all the effort to solve it to that point, my time was wasted and the result is useless.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just pick up all the pieces of our lives and spend a few hours putting them together and making life whole and complete? The unfortunate thing is that there is an important piece missing in all of our lives. We are born in a sinful state and our spiritual place of communion with God is empty. Without that piece, there will be a semblance of order and completeness but there will be a hole where a necessary piece is empty.
It’s no wonder that the world is in disorder and is full of frustrated, confused and even hateful people. The piece that is missing is the one that shows true love. We think we know what love is but only Jesus was able and willing to show the world what true love really meant. Even though he was born and lived without sin, he was willing to take on the sins of everyone (yes, you too) and to take on their punishment and die in their place.
That is true love. That while each of us were filled with hate and disobedience, while we were ready to kill him ourselves rather than admit our own sin, he loved each of us (yes, you too) so much that he wanted to give us a way out of our confused and broken lives.
You see, Jesus is the missing piece of our lives puzzle. Through him, our connection with God will be complete and we will be made whole. Without him, all our efforts are wasted and the result is useless. With him as our savior, we are complete and the mystery is solved.
Once the connection with God is made, the answers to the questions we all ask are answered.
Who am I? I am a beloved child of God. So special and dear to him, he knows how many hairs I have on my head.
Why am I here? To show God’s love to others and to show myself pleasing to my Creator and to do the tasks that he sets before me.
What made me? God made me. He says he created my inmost being; and knit me together in my mother’s womb
Where will I go when I leave this life? I will spend eternity in heaven with other Christ-followers glorifying God.
Is there something more out there? Yes, there is much “out there”. Heaven and Hell. A place of eternal peace, love and fellowship with God and a place of eternal damnation cut off from God. Eternity with our Creator or an agonizing and timeless eternity separation from God and of pain and suffering.
If you are looking at your life and wondering where the missing piece is, you can find it at last. If you are trying to solve the mysteries of life, the clues that make the whodunnit of creation are here right in front of you.
God wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to show you the love he holds for you. He created everything and everyone but he wants you, especially, to find fellowship with him.
Jesus says that he stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. If you ask him in, he will come in forevermore. He will put the pieces of life back together. Life won’t be perfect but you will have peace. Perfection awaits for you in heaven. Here, you have to live life with all of its ups and downs. But you don’t have to live it all alone. You don’t have to struggle with questions of why and how and where.
Asking Jesus to take control of you life is simple. He doesn’t require extraordinary efforts. He doesn’t want you to earn it. He wants to give it to you for free. Right where you are, no matter how broken you are, no matter what awful things you have done or thought. He wants to help you make sense of your life.
All you have to do is tell God that you know that you are a sinner, that you have not lived a perfect life. Acknowledge that Jesus, as the Son of God, did live a sinless life and that he went to the cross to carry your sins. That he died for you and rose again to new life. That he is your Savior by taking your punishment and that you want to share with him in his new and eternal life. Ask him to come live in your heart and to guide through all the days to come.
That’s it. That’s all. With that, your missing piece is found. You connection to God is made whole. Your mysteries are solved. Your life will now make sense and, as each day passes, you will come to rely more and more on God to hold your hand and lead your way.
Romans 10: 9-13 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”