It’s late December. Just a few days ago, on Christmas Eve or very early the next morning, parents in celebrating households across the globe faced those three words that bring fear to their hearts: Some Assembly Required.
Bicycles, swing sets, doll houses, wagons, stereos … they all come in pieces and have to be put together. Sometimes the result is a thing of beauty. Often, however, there are skinned knuckles, arguments between spouses, and parts left over.
Life is similar. Answers to spiritual questions don’t pop into our heads and hearts all at once. Situations aren’t always clear. The Bible itself affirms, through examples of its characters and even outright statements, that revelation comes a little at a time at best. “For we know in part.”
Thankfully, God knows exactly what the final outcome will be. He sees the photo on the box and is engineering circumstances to get us to look exactly like it. The work is done in our character, as traits like love, joy, peace and the like are built through our daily experiences.
Some assembly is definitely required if anything worthwhile is to come from the miscellaneous pieces of life. That’s true in the spiritual realm, and in the basement or garage at 2:00am on December 25 where Mom and Dad scratch their heads while the children sleep.
God’s ways of putting things together, are a mystery to man. Because we can’t see the whole picture, we often question His workmanship.
Maybe that is why before making Eve, God put Adam to sleep. Woman may have turned out differently,if God had let Adam put his 2¢ in. But then she wouldn’t be that shiney new bicycle, under the lights, that steals men’s heart’s, young and old.
The assembly that is required to live to our full potential and follow the path of spiritual growth can be frustratingly complicated. But while our feelings come and go – sometimes happy, sometimes sad – God’s plan for us means that beneath it all is the simple perfection of our lives unfolding.