God’s Got This!

I’ve never fully appreciated the point and purpose of doing jigsaw puzzles. It’s just not in my personality make-up to spend countless hours staring endlessly at punched-out nonsensical cardboard pieces, trying to find other such pieces to mate up and build out a picture. [Editorial note: My wife begs to differ. She insists I have the ability to spend countless hours staring at such nonsense, as evidenced by the amount of time I sit in my chair watching college football.]

I guess there are two things that ultimately bother me about puzzles. First, when the puzzle is finished there’s nothing left to do except admire it for a few moments, destroy it, and then put it all back in the box. The second thing that bothers me is when pieces end up missing from the picture! To me, there’s nothing more disappointing or frustrating than nearing completion of the task, only to discover missing pieces.

Reaching the end of 2020 feels like completing a puzzle, only to discover there are a bunch of pieces missing. At the very least, the puzzle of 2020 was rated on an expert level, like putting together 1,000 pieces without having a picture on the cover providing a frame of reference.

It was frustrating in many ways, disappointing in others. There’s a sense that holes are left in the picture of what it was supposed to be like when anticipating the beginning of the year. So many of us lost so much in 2020. What a disappointment.

As I lamented these frustrations and disappointments to the Lord, He brought me to Isaiah 43:18-19:

“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
   and streams in the wasteland.“

The optimist in me loves this promise. Sure, Isaiah was dealing with far greater issues than I did in 2020—he was prophesying to a rebellious and sinful nation. His message continued to fall on deaf ears, and he bore the brunt of carrying God’s promises while observing the folly of the people to whom he was called to preach.

However, the promise of a “new thing” is just what I need right now. That’s why I love the reboot each new year brings. I’m wondering if you’re in the same frame of mind as well.

Of course, we do not know what the jigsaw puzzle of 2021 will bring. What I do know—and you can know it too—is the One who holds 2021 in His hands. In previous years, this Christian cliché might have passed by me without giving it much thought. After all, I’ve said it countless times and have heard it even more.

This year, however, I’m choosing to hold tightly to the promise that, “God’s Got This!” He’s got this in His hands and He’s doing a new thing. Moving from 2020 into 2021, I’m choosing to perceive this—or at the very least be on diligent lookout for it.

I invite you to join me in grabbing hold of this, especially in the shadow of a year that had so many missing pieces in it.

Happy New Year, PLC!