A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with someone about life—about how it can be hard to navigate because we can never clearly see where it is taking us. That is why putting our faith and trust in God is so important. Life has so many turns and curves, hills and valleys.

The thought came to me that life is like a stained-glass mosaic. Our lives begin as a blank board, and throughout our lifetime, little pieces of glass are placed upon it.

If we are walking with God and putting our trust in Him, then He is the One picking up the pieces and placing them on the board. If we are not walking with God, then we are the ones placing the pieces ourselves—or we are allowing someone else to arrange our lives, letting someone else take control of what we do and what our choices are. And sometimes, that “someone” can be Satan.

Either way, we are either letting God do it or we are not.

When the pieces are scattered all around us, it is hard to determine what piece belongs where, because the mosaic of life never fully makes sense until the last piece is placed. Until then, it can look like a jumble of colors and fragments—a kaleidoscope of many things thrown together. We simply do not have the knowledge or wisdom to arrange the pieces in their proper order or place on our own.

When we let God place the pieces in their proper order and position, we can rest assured that each one has a divine appointment. We still may not see the full picture. We still may not understand what it is becoming until it is finished. But God gives us little glimpses here and there of what He is doing and what He is orchestrating behind the scenes.

Many times, we grow frustrated with the pace at which God is placing the pieces together. We become frustrated with the size of the pieces He is adding to the board. We think He should be placing large sections onto the picture—taking big chunks and setting them in place—so that we can look over His shoulder and say, “Ahh, okay God, I see where You are going with this. I see what the picture is becoming.”

But sometimes, God is carefully taking tiny slivers of glass and placing them onto the mosaic.

Sometimes we take the pieces out of His hands and try to do it ourselves—stepping in front of God and trying to determine what the perfect picture should look like, thinking we know exactly how it should turn out, and placing the pieces of glass on the board ourselves.

Sometimes we decide that the picture God is creating is not beautiful, not worthy, or never going to become what we want it to be. So we shove the glass board over, sending it tumbling down, leaving the pieces of our lives broken and scattered all around us.

Other times, it may not be intentional. Perhaps we simply were not paying attention. We were not mindful of how fragile our glass picture is. We neglected to care for it. We grew weary, let our guard down, and allowed it to fall. We let our worries overcome us instead of placing everything back into the hands of the Master Artist.

Whatever the case may be, the pieces now lie broken and scattered around us.

What do we do now? Do we start all over again? Do we do what we have always done—pick up the pieces ourselves and try to place them where we think they belong?

Or do we humble ourselves before our Creator—the Creator of heaven and earth, the Savior of the world—and ask for His divine direction and intervention?

Do we gather all the broken and shattered pieces and place them back into His hands, saying, “God, only You can fix this. Only You can make sense of this. Only You can bring beauty out of this broken and shattered mess”?

Do we step away from our pride, ego, and vanity and acknowledge that this masterpiece was never ours to create, never ours to claim, and never ours to fix—but always God’s?

Here are some Bible verses that speak to this thought:

Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV) –
“(5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
(6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

This clearly makes the point that if we put our trust in God and do not try to direct our lives on our own, He will direct our paths.

Jeremiah 10:23 (KJV) –
“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

Because we live under the curse of the flesh, it is not within us to correctly direct or determine our own steps. We must be submitted and surrendered to the One who knows all.

Isaiah 64:8 (KJV) –
“But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Psalm 127:1 (KJV) –
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

Are we going to allow God to shape and mold us into what we ought to be? Are we going to let Him build our lives upon His holy foundation?

Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) –
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

We are His beautiful workmanship—created and saved for a special purpose and calling. But that purpose can only come to fruition if we remain in the Savior’s hands.

And the last verse I want to share with you is this:

Romans 8:28 (KJV) –
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Notice the phrase, “called according to His purpose.” We are saved, called, guided, and directed by His purpose for us—not our own. We are promised, through His divinely appointed Word, that all things will work together for our good if we love God and are walking in His purpose.

• A Redeemed Ruby