making the pieces fit

We love puzzles around here. I'm pretty good at them, if I do say so myself. I have fond memories of time spent in younger years completing large jigsaw puzzles, especially with my mom's parents.

I remember when Jordan first became interested in puzzles which require the pieces to nestle together. He can do many on his own now, though he still uses more of a trial and error/memory effort than filling in the border and working through like-pieces to finish the middle like I do. Sometimes he even attempts to jam pieces in where they don't belong, only to find it skews the picture, then try again.

My favorite thing about puzzles is that they are predictable. I can pull out a box, dump out the pieces, and glance at the full picture every once in awhile when I'm stuck. I confidently expect an end result just like the box promises me.

Have you ever completed a puzzle without the whole picture? It's more difficult! Though I don't attempt to jam pieces in often, with a larger puzzle I will have many more close match attempts than I do when I have a picture to guide me. Yet, I still confidently expect an outcome of a full, recognizable picture.

According to Google, hope:

noun-

1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

[synonyms:aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, goal, plan, design]

2. (archaic) a feeling of trust.

verb- 

1. want something to happen or be the case. 

According to Bible.org:

In Scripture, according to the Hebrew and Greek words translated by the word “hope” and according to the biblical usage, hope is an indication of certainty. “Hope” in Scripture means “a strong and confident expectation.” Though archaic today in modern terms, hope is akin to trust and a confident expectation.

God has been tugging at my heart. Do I confidently expect the end result God has promised me to happen? Do I really believe that He gives me "hope and a future" as I've read and recited from Jeremiah 29:11 over and over? God does not break His promises.

I think a major part of it is trust. That "confident expectation" and "trust" in the God of the universe lay the firm foundation, from there I can truly hope.

I'm attempting to do less puzzle piece jamming. My ideas and plans might match a little and have similar shape to the needed puzzle piece, sometimes they might even fit right in the puzzle. But, when I focus on lack, fret, worry, and over-plan, I'm not clinging to hope or God's perfect will. I'm over-exerting where I need not. I can trust, can confidently expect that when I am in tune with God, He will fit my pieces right where He needs them, when He needs them.

He's got the final picture, and He knows which piece goes where, and which piece to fit in next. Who am I to doubt? 

My first plan of action to combat my focus on lack and move towards faithful, confident hope is to finish my Open Your Bible "devotion" provided by She Reads Truth. It is really helping me to build my confidence in how I approach God's word (don't miss that link!)- which is the foundation. 

Next is to spend time regularly, I'm going to start with weekly, of taking 5 minutes to write out (since you know that's how I process) where my hope [:aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, goal, plan, design] is currently focusing, and one specific area I can intentionally focus on the abundant ways I can trust God is keeping His promise to provide and care for me.