“For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” 1Cor.13:9-10

Have you ever felt like God was showing you something about your life, then thought you knew exactly how it was going to play out? I know I have had moments in my life where I felt like I had a good grasp of where the Lord was leading me. In those moments, it seemed like I would automatically create an image of what it was going to be like. It would make sense in my mind about how it would all play out. Then I would feel so confident in what I thought it would look like that I would share it with others. I would be excited to watch it all play out in my life the way I envisioned it.

In these different instances, time would pass and I would notice things happening differently than what I had thought. For example, I’ve always loved golf. From a young age, I have had favor everywhere I’ve gone with it. People would let me practice at the course for free, chipping in for tournament fees, buying me fitted clubs. It seemed so clear that God was leading me into a career of golf. I had this plan of how it would play out in my head. However, after time passing I can tell you it has not played out at all like I thought it would. The Lord even led me to lay it down for a couple years! Now I’ve taken it back up and I still do not know what’s next with it, haha!

What I’ve learned from going through these moments where I really only know in part what God has in store for me, is exactly that, I only know in PART. I’ve been learning to stop constructing a full puzzle picture from a single puzzle piece. God uses these single puzzle pieces to draw us to continue seeking Him. He’s not asking you to finish the puzzle with the pieces you think belong, creating a picture that doesn’t match His for you. I’ve had to take apart the puzzle picture in some areas of my life and get back to just that single piece and seek Him. He will be faithful to give me the next.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

If you’re experiencing a moment like this in your life where nothing seems to be what you thought, I encourage you to go ahead and take apart the puzzle you created with your own puzzle pieces. Take it apart until you just have the piece(s) that were from God. Then take time and seek Him.

It is easy to get discouraged in these moments where things don’t pan out how we’d like or the way we thought it would be, but don’t let it stop you from seeking God. Sure, it will be uncomfortable to face that there are pieces that we forced together. However, one thing I’ve noticed is a burden has been lifted as I stopped putting it on myself to make the pieces fit. In the burden’s place, peace has come.

Just as 1 Cor. 13 9-10 says, we know in part but when the perfect comes, the partial will done away with. God is perfect. He has all the pieces that fit perfectly together. Trust in Him to place the pieces perfectly together so that the partial can be done away with in your life. Trust Him. Seek Him.

Written by: Liz Livingston
Published on 2/23/18