Nancy Hughes: The missing puzzle piece

“. . . He has also set eternity in the hearts of men . . .”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

“What’s da matter with dis ting?” I heard the frustrated little voice ask. I turned around to see what “dis ting” was and bent down, face to face, with one of the 4 year old boys in my Joyful Noise Sunday school class.

He could not get a piece of his puzzle to fit where he thought it should go. He had repeatedly twisted the puzzle piece at every angle but while it was similar in shape, it was not the right one. He finally took his fist and began pounding on the puzzle piece, as if he could somehow beat it into the hole. And yet, it still did not match up.

I knelt down beside him and quietly shared “The reason that puzzle piece won’t fit in that space is because it isn’t the same shape. We need to look around and find one that is the very same and see if it will fit.” But he shook his head. “Nope. I think I just need to keep hittin’ it with my fist ‘til it goes in,” he responded.

I looked through the remaining pieces on the table and found the correct one. “Only one puzzle piece is exactly like that space. Why don’t we try this one and see if it will work?” I asked him. Grudgingly he took it from me but instantly smiled as it fit perfectly in the puzzle. “Thanks,” he told me, “but that other one would have fitted if I hit it a few more times with my fist.”

Sound familiar? That’s exactly us when it comes to life. We all have a void inside and nothing will fill it except Jesus. Oh, we can try to fill it with other things – and we do. We try money or a career or relationships. We may even try to put family in that spot and push and shove to make it fit.

That might result with the appearance of “fitting” and result in temporary happiness but it will never be the exact fit that will bring us joy and peace for all eternity.

Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes 3:11, understood. He wrote that God “has also set eternity in the hearts of men.”

Solomon had it all: wisdom beyond compare, wealth with no equal, every pleasure that money could buy. And yet he knew that his heart was not complete – that the pieces of his life did not fit together – without God.

God has placed an empty spot for a puzzle piece in our hearts. What puzzle piece will you choose to fit in that space? I choose Jesus.

Father, thank you for giving me your son to fill the longing in my heart for a place in eternity with you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Have you ever felt a longing in your heart for more than just what the world offers?

What worldly solutions have you tried to satisfy that longing? Did anything work?

Apply

Journal those things in your life that are puzzle pieces you have used to try to fill the void in your heart.

Read today’s Ecclesiastes 3:11 aloud, replacing the word “eternity.” with each of those things. Compare them with the gift of eternal life with Jesus.

Power

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) “. . . He has also set eternity in the hearts of men . . .”

· Psalm 63:1 (NIV) “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.


Psalm 42:1 (NIV) “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)