Does your puzzle have missing pieces?

Life feels like a 1000-piece puzzle sometimes, doesn’t it? The worst possible thing that can happen when doing a puzzle is, after much time and effort, one or more pieces are missing. It’s a semi-disaster, and your very soul craves completion. You might even feel like upending the entire puzzle and throwing it on the floor.

I think most of us have what I’ll call missing pieces in our lives. All credit for the analogy goes to Jennifer Rothschild, who wrote a Bible study called “Missing Pieces: Real Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.” In Jennifer’s case, the main thing “missing” is her sight, as she is blind.

What’s missing for you may be a spouse, a baby, a dream job or a much-desired award. For some, what’s missing is a good relationship with a child, a friend, a sibling or a parent. For others, you long for the missing piece of pain-free living or good health.

Whatever it is, we may feel like Naomi in the Old Testament.

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” Ruth 1:20-21 (NIV).

Wow. Naomi said she was full but now feels empty. And she makes no bones about who she blames – God.

What brought on this expression of bitterness and loss of hope? Naomi’s husband and two sons had died. She was a grieving widow and mother who had suffered great loss. And in her society, being a widow often meant poverty and vulnerability.

However, one key thing Naomi still had was an incredibly loving, loyal daughter-in-law named Ruth who had said to her mother-in-law “Don’t ask me to leave you. Where you go, I will go.” Naomi held a puzzle piece that would prove immeasurably valuable as time went on.

We can’t control what happens to us, including what good things may be snatched from us. But we can, with God’s help, control our thoughts and attitudes. We can focus on the pieces we still possess instead of our missing pieces. And Naomi had Ruth.

Our merciful God did not reject Naomi for her heartfelt expression of bitterness. As things developed, He provided for her through a rich relative, Boaz, who married Ruth. In time, the Lord even gave her a new baby to dote over in the form of a grandson, Obed – not just any grandson but one who would become an ancestor to Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Here’s what the neighbor ladies said to Naomi as she held that precious baby close to her heart: “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative . . . And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.” Ruth 4:14-15 (NIV)

No, God did not reject Naomi because she had expressed angry, bitter feelings toward Him in the midst of her sorrow. He won’t reject us either if we express to Him how we feel because of what, or who, we are missing. Instead, He’ll demonstrate His great love for you.

While He does warn us in Hebrews 12:15 to not allow bitterness to take root, He is a compassionate God Who promises in Jeremiah 29:11 to give us “a hope and a future.” It may take time to see that work out, but He’ll be with you in the waiting.