The Missing Piece

 A family friend got us a puzzle to work on when they were visiting last week: a colorful seashell puzzle that featured a huge, prominent yellow starfish near the center. It was a gorgeous puzzle, but that starfish was a beast. We decided to save it for the end since every piece looked just like the next one. But at some point during the assembly of this 500-piece jigsaw beauty, we lost a piece. Not of the starfish, but rather of a bright pink shell. We looked everywhere for it, under the cushions, under the furniture. It was nowhere to be found. We just came to the conclusion is was gone and decided to finish the rest of the puzzle regardless. When it was completed, I texted a picture of it to everyone who helped us work on it. My daughter then commented, "Still missing that one piece." Even though that beast of a starfish was completed, the puzzle wasn't complete without the missing piece.

It got me thinking about our unique value to God's plan. Each created by God for a specific part in growing His Kingdom, we are all different, quirky, special, one-of-a-kind masterpieces designed for God's purposes. That gives a new perspective on our value as children of God. One can't be missing. I suppose that's reason Christ said he'd leave the 99 to find the one, "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish." Matt. 18:12-14

This became more evident to me when searching for particular pieces in completion of the puzzle. Looking for that piece that had a little bit of this or that color with just the right shape, I'd come across one that surprised me when it actually fit. The piece by itself didn't look like anything in particular, but put into the puzzle suddenly made a gorgeous picture. When we look in the mirror and wonder why we look a certain way, act a certain way, have specific talents or interests, it may seem we don't necessarily fit in, when in reality, we are a necessity. We help complete the plan ... and in the process become complete ourselves.

In the sermon Sunday, our pastor referenced Mark 1:11 - "And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."  He encouraged us to remember that our Father feels the same way about us as He does about His Son, Jesus. You are a child that He loves. With you He is well pleased. It's a message we all need to hear. In your unique, distinctive, particular, extraordinary way, you are a key part of God's plan to grow His Kingdom, and more importantly, He loves, loves, loves us, enough to chase us so that none go missing.

By the way, my daughter asked me to look under the couch to see if the missing pink piece was there. I thought we'd looked everywhere, but low and behold, there the missing piece was. We spent a lot of time searching for that tiny piece. It was worth the hunt, as the puzzle was finally complete.

And we're worth it, too. We may not know just yet where we fit in the completed picture, but God's got it, He adores us and creates us to be the rare, original soul that we are. Oh, that we would always remember our value ... and not just to Him, but to the other pieces interlinked around us.