The Piece in Front of Us
I love finishing a project. There is something deeply satisfying about mowing the last strip of grass, checking the final item off a list, or stepping back from something you have been working on and saying, Done.
Maybe that is one reason I enjoy jigsaw puzzles. Our youngest son loves them, and every so often he gets the rest of us pulled into one. We spread out all the pieces, find the edges, and begin trying to make sense of what looks like a thousand tiny pieces of nothing.
And we never finish in one sitting. The puzzle may stay out for days, sometimes weeks. Someone walks by and finds a piece. Someone else sits down for twenty minutes and finishes a section. Little by little, the picture begins to emerge. Then comes that wonderfully satisfying moment when somebody puts in the last piece. Finished. I love that feeling.
Maybe because so much of life doesn’t give us those moments very often. There are seasons when it feels like all we are doing is planning, preparing, encouraging, planting, and hoping. We are doing work that matters, but we cannot yet see what it is becoming. Parenting can feel that way. Relationships can feel that way. Following Jesus can certainly feel that way.
We want to know that what we are doing is making a difference. We want some assurance that the conversation mattered, the kindness changed something, or the seed we planted actually grew. But most of the time, we don’t get to see the whole picture.
This past Sunday, we heard Paul’s invitation in Romans 12: “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” I’ve been thinking about those words ever since. Paul doesn’t tell us to finish transforming ourselves. He invites us to offer ourselves to God and trust God with the work of transformation. That’s an important difference. Transformation belongs to God.
Our part is to love, serve, tell our stories, and use the gifts God has given us. To encourage someone who needs encouragement, make room at the table, forgive, and show up. And then trust God with what happens next.
There is a beautiful poem written by Bishop Ken Untener called Prophets of a Future Not Our Own. In it, he reminds us that much of what we do is planting seeds that will grow someday and watering seeds that someone else planted before us. And then comes this wonderfully freeing reminder:
“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.”
I need that reminder. Sometimes we plant a seed in someone’s life and never see what grows. Sometimes we offer encouragement that someone remembers years later. Sometimes we teach a child something about God’s love without realizing how deeply it has taken root. Sometimes we simply love the person God has placed in front of us, and we have no idea what God might do with that love.
Maybe faithfulness isn’t about finishing the whole puzzle. Maybe it is about paying attention to the piece in front of us—the person in front of us, the opportunity in front of us, the small act of love in front of us—and trusting that God sees a picture much larger than the one we can see.
So this week, I am trying to loosen my grip on needing to see the finished product. There will always be more planting, tending, loving, and becoming. God is still at work—in me, in you, and in our world.
God isn’t asking us to finish everything today. God is simply inviting us to be faithful with the piece in front of us.
With Gratitude,
Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor
Aldersgate UMC