SHARING and CARING…it’s what LIFE is all about!

A Missing Piece… or Peace

Posted by on May 31, 2017 in Blog, Food for Thought, Quotes | 11 comments

Of late Doug and I have enjoyed putting together puzzles, mostly 1000-piece puzzles. Not sure how this came about other than politely accepting one to take on our winter holiday two years ago. We never bothered doing another one again until this past winter when we put three together while we were in Florida. And then we went out and bought three more to bring home! It seemed that the bug of puzzle-making had bit!

But now that spring is here—and my summer respite to Muskoka Bible Centre hovers beautifully in the near future—it’s time to finish our latest puzzle and put our puzzle-making away until the snow flies. And, in truth, I’m okay with that since our latest puzzle has been a bit of a stretch for me. I kept insisting that there were pieces missing. (I’m in the habit of saying this with every puzzle!) But I wasn’t enjoying this latest one. Too many pieces were the same colour and shape. Nevertheless, I stuck with it until it was finished and it was only then that a problem became evident.

IMG_1475The expression, the missing piece of a puzzle became all too personal! A piece was indeed missing!

We searched on the floor, under the carpet, and in the creases of the sofa. We even searched in places that didn’t even make sense to search! All to no avail. The piece was gone… or in fact it was never there! 999 pieces should have been written on the box! And I felt cheated!

I’m a closer. I need to see things through to completion. Then I can move on. But to see a ‘hole’ in my puzzle makes moving on very difficult… alright, maybe just annoying. Now I am left with crumbling it all up and putting it back in its box which now has an area circled and marked, Missing.Peace 1

Earlier on as I was typing the word ‘piece’ my fingers chose the spelling ‘peace.’  As I corrected it, I couldn’t help thinking about my typo: a Missing Peace, and my thoughts gravitated to something well beyond puzzle-making.

There are times in life when we allow acidic bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment to filter into our lives. And peace is missing. Needless turmoil, worry, fear, and low self-worth become dominant. Peace is missing, and we find ourselves ignoring the One who can supply a peace that “surpasses all understanding.”

I read a chapter title in a book recently that said: Why Pray When You Can Worry? In a cursory glance at the chapter, the reader was asked, On a scale of one (no problems) to ten (representing “panic”) what would you register on the worry chart? And then further on I read, How does worry affect your sense of worth before God? The immediate thought I had was that worry is a cancer that destroys peace.

Joseph M. Scriven wrote What a Friend We Have in Jesus and when he did, he wrote some amazing words. Many are familiar with this song, but others have missed out in not knowing the One who provides—better still, personifies—Perfect Peace.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

I decided not to dwell any further on the missing piece of the puzzle. I will just put the puzzle away, maybe even give it away, (with a warning, of course). After all, it is just a puzzle! Life is too short and I don’t want to waste my time on things I cannot change. I want my life to count for something of value. As the repeated stanza in C. T. Studd’s poem says, “Only one life, twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” 

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

11 Comments

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  1. Heather.

    Beautiful, Ruth. Peace, perfect peace.

  2. Luella Smith

    Thanks Ruth, so beautifully written.
    Wish I had brought out my puzzle when you were here in April. It’s a Thomas Kinkade.

  3. Carol Ford

    Hi Ruth, I liked this piece/peace. Hope you are well and enjoy your summer.

    • Ruth Waring

      Thanks, Carol. Things are fine with me and I am looking forward to a summer at MBC! Hope to see you at the Gala. My hubby is coming this year!! He wanted to get an inside view of what happens when I get away to a writer’s conference.

  4. Mike Noble

    Profound…simple…clear! Just finished my first 1000 piece puzzle and thought a piece was missing…until Debby found it…so, I identify big time with the life lesson you shared…bless you!

    • Ruth Waring

      Mike!! How nice to see you on my blog page and to understand the struggles of the life of a “puzzler!” Glad you found the missing piece… we never did! So the lovely picture is back in the box and awaiting my decision as to what to do with it! I so apprecite you and your friendship over the many years we worked together at the Navs. Blessings to you, Debby and my baseball buddy, Cindy:)

      • Ruth Waring

        Mike, for what it’s worth… the missing puzzle piece was FOUND. I had decided to be proactive when sorting the puzzle pieces, separating the edge pieces from the rest. I had dumped the puzzle on our bed and sorted them there; however, what I didn’t realize was that ONE piece fell on the floor and landed under the edge of our bed frame that sits flat on the floor. Found it weeks later quite by accident. It is now safely in the box with the other pieces waiting for the day when I will do it again:)

  5. Marie Mather

    I loved this blog Ruth!! What a Friend we have in Jesus!!

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