Have you ever spent hours and hours working on a jigsaw puzzle

only to discover that one piece is missing?

That is exactly what my daughters and I experienced over the holidays.

We were practically glued for hours and hours

to the table covered with what seemed like

a million little pieces.

1000 to be exact.

Excitement mounted as we first completed the outline

and gradually the puzzle began to take shape.

Cooperation. Togetherness.

And those last few hours that we worked putting each piece in its place were so much fun.

But in the end

one piece was missing. Discouragement flooded in where excitement had been.

Disappointment.

We had had no way of knowing that a piece was missing in the beginning.

A new puzzle.  Never opened before.

But, well, it didn’t matter in the end. That one missing piece was nowhere to be found.

As I meet with people from all walks of life

sometimes I sense a similar emptiness.

Like a jigsaw with one missing piece they are missing peace.

And no amount of education or great job or beautiful home or fantastic relationship

can fill that hole.

A  small verse hidden in Psalm 34:14 says  ‘seek peace and pursue it. ‘

How do we seek peace?

How do we PURSUE it?

When I really am seeking something or someone

I am very intentional about all my efforts.

I run after it with determination just as I worked so hard

to complete an international adoption

years ago.

During that time, all my moments and energy were invested in doing everything I could to adopt my child.

Nothing was too hard.

Nothing distracted me.

Could it be that our quest for peace demands that same investment from us?

We must say no to anything that distracts us from peace

and seize every opportunity to pursue it.

So may you be refreshed by peace this new year

as you seek to know the Prince of Peace personally.

“Let him who means to love life, and see good days, seek peace and pursue it”(1Peter 3:10-11).

Are you missing peace?

Finding that peace will bring you joy, satisfactions and a sense of wholeness

like nothing else you’ve ever known.