Have you ever worked a puzzle only to find that when all is said and done you are missing a piece? You look all around the table, on the floor, in every nook and crevice, but the piece is nowhere to be found. In that horrifying moment you realize that although you may have 999 pieces of your puzzle, without number 1000 your puzzle isn't complete. That sense of satisfaction and accomplishment you were expecting slips away as soon as you realize the disappointing truth. Your puzzle is not complete and never will be complete because that last piece is missing. The empty place where your renegade shape should fit becomes the only thing you can see in the beautiful landscape puzzle you have hovered over for days. Don't you hate that?!

So, what do yo do with the entire puzzle then? Do you take it apart and start again hoping that last piece will show up? Probably not. Do you display it proudly? Not likely. I know of one person who, upon finding that one piece was missing from the puzzle they had diligently labored over, threw the whole puzzle away. Why? Because the puzzle could never be completed. You could try to create something to fill the space, but it will never be exactly right. It’s an afterthought that wasn’t part of the original creation of the puzzle. Without that one piece the puzzle will never be what it was created to be. There is no other solution. The incomplete puzzle could sit on the table for years, but the 999 interlocking shapes will never display the entire picture as it was designed. 

You are a part of God’s plan. He created you as one piece of His cosmic puzzle. You interlock with every other person who belongs to Him. They have a part in His plan and so do you. If you do not take your place, the design will not be complete. There is a place for you. There really is! You may not see it right now, but it is there. You may wonder where you fit into God's plan, my friend. Be assured there is a place for you, and like that puzzle, unless you take your place it will never be complete.

Years ago, I couldn’t see where I fit in God’s puzzle. I never expected to be where I am now, doing what I am doing. I never expected to be a credentialed minster serving as a pastor, preaching, counseling, leading groups of people. I never expected to be writing for you, to encourage you, I never expected to be living where I live. I didn’t move toward expectation. I moved toward the next step I felt God was asking me to take. That was all. Unlike a puzzle, I didn't have a picture of what the finished product should look like. To discover my place I had to just keep moving forward and so do you. 

Along the way I intentionally began to learn about me. Learning about myself was part of finding out where I fit in the puzzle. As a stay-at-home mom with three kids, my days were filled with scraped knees, runny noses, never-ending piles of laundry and school lunches. I loved being a mom, but I always had the nagging feeling that there was more, like what I was doing wasn't all I was meant to do. I felt like God had a place for me to fill, and being a wife and a mom wasn't all of it. So, I continued to learn more about me. I found out what I was good at through gifts assessments and through experimentation. I kept serving in church. I read books that challenged me to discover the purpose for which God put me on the earth. Books like What On Earth Am I Here For: The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren, have helped me to ask questions and to try things. All of those experiences were not clearly pointing the way at the time, but when I look back I can see the markers along the road. 

Your journey is lived one step at a time. One decision at at time. One goal at a time. That’s how you discover where you fit.  At the beginning of any year I notice the ads for all kinds of material to help me to set goals and have “your best year ever!” They catch my attention, maybe they catch yours, too. I have signed up for the free webinars and learned techniques (and skipped all the ads for the products the webinar presenters want to sell!) I have learned and applied so much that has helped me. I see all of those as tools for helping me to be more focused, accomplish more, and even enjoy my life more, but they are only tools. The goals that I set for myself and the goals that God has for me are not always the same. But if I make my goal to seek God and His heart and to ask Him what I should pursue, then those tools take on a new significance. They have helped me to determine what I believe is God’s will for my next step. I love those kinds of tools. I love the podcasts and e-mailings that help me to be more focused and productive. But I love them because I believe that God has used them to help me accomplish His purposes. Those tools may never mention God at all, but because it is my intention to discern God’s will in using the tool, the journey becomes part of my YES adventure, my journey of living my life for God’s glory by fulfilling His divine potential for my life. Those tools help me recognize where I fit.

Maybe you don’t think of yourself as an organized or focused person. Maybe the idea of setting goals is foreign to you. That’s okay. But I encourage you to think of a goal, not as a task to be accomplished, but as a vision for discovering God’s purposes for you. When I have prayerfully set goals, I know that I can’t reach them on my own. If you believe that your goals have originated with God, then you recognize that you must be totally dependent on Him to fulfill them. Setting goals with God's guidance has done more than help me accomplish more, it has helped me get closer to Him. My prayerful goal-setting has kept me connected to God in a way that I never expected and has helped me discover the place He has for me. 

Here are a few tips to help you set goals and find your place in God’s puzzle. 

• God-centered goal-setting requires humility. God-centered goal-setting starts with prayer and dependence on God. It’s not an attempt to make a name for yourself, but to bring God glory by fulfilling the potential He has put in you. 

• God-centered goal-reaching requires humility coupled with determination. Once the goals are prayerfully set, they can’t be reached without a decision on your part to pursue with commitment. When we commit ourselves to reaching for God’s goals, He steps in and supplies the strength we need. That strength doesn’t show up unless we are committed. 

• Never give up reaching for God-inspired dreams. God-inspired dreams are fuel for life, not tasks to be accomplished. When God puts a dream in your heart, it becomes a motivator for how you go about your every day life. Sometimes it takes your whole life to fulfill that dream. Go for it!

So, step back and take a look at God's puzzle. You can see so many people, interlocking and fulfilling God's plan by using what God has put inside them. You fit in there. If you can't see it right now, that's okay. But keep learning about you and keep taking the next right step. When you seek your unique place where you use your gifts and talents to the best of your ability, when you fulfill the potential God Himself placed within you with His glory as your goal, then it becomes an act of worship. 

Seeking my place in God's puzzle has been a lifelong journey that has drawn me closer to Him. He is inviting you on the same journey. And guess what? He will continue to shape us to fit until the day He brings us home to Him so the adventure never ends until the last piece slips into place. What a beautiful landscape that will be! 

Key thought: When you seek the place that God has for you, you will find where you fit!

Scripture: “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” ‭‭1 Corinthians ‭12:27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES Challenge: Make a list of everything you are good at. It isn’t prideful to acknowledge what God has put in you. Humility acknowledges strengths as gifts from God. If you need help, find an online gifts assessment to get you started. As you review your list, ask God how He wants you to put those strengths to use and thank Him for putting them in you!

Prayer: Lord, help me to stay focused on what matters to You. Help me to accomplish your dreams for me so that Your purposes can be accomplished.Amen.