{"id":41694,"date":"2026-09-16T21:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?post_type=portfolio&p=41694"},"modified":"2026-09-16T22:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:11:44","slug":"2026-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2026-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"A Piece of the Puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"

He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
\nand all his ways are just.
\nA faithful God who does no wrong,
\nupright and just is he
\n<\/em>. \u2014 Deuteronomy 32:4<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My family enjoys doing large jigsaw puzzles and sometimes we will work on one for weeks at a time. I am always amazed at how the puzzle goes from hundreds of small pieces that look like a jumbled mess on our table to a complete picture by the end of the process. Along the way, there are times that I can\u2019t imagine how any of the disparate pieces make sense, and sometimes I wonder if we are missing pieces because the puzzle looks impossible to finish with what we have left. But when the final piece goes in, it\u2019s a great feeling as we appreciate how all the pieces come together to produce a perfect picture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s portion we read, \u201cHe is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just<\/em>\u2026\u201d According to Jewish tradition, this verse is intended specifically for times when the exact opposite seems to be true\u2014when it appears as though everything is wrong, and we don\u2019t understand God\u2019s plan for our lives. In these difficult times, we are called to trust that God is perfect, and that His ways are perfect, even when we can\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

There is a story told about Maimonides, a famous 12th<\/sup>-century rabbi, who asked his dying disciple to bring him answers to a list of questions having to do with matters of faith, suffering of the righteous, and the like. After the student passed away, he appeared to Maimonides in a dream\u2014but he had no answers. He explained: \u201cI did as you asked. I stood in Heaven and began to read your list. But as I was reading them, I fell silent. I realized that from where I was standing, there were no questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When things look confusing to us, as if God has forgotten about our world, let\u2019s remember that we are looking at an unfinished puzzle. From where we stand, we cannot see the whole picture. There are more pieces yet to be placed, and it is only when the last piece is in that the picture will be complete.<\/p>\n

At that time, it will be clear to us that \u201chis works are perfect.<\/em>\u201d Our challenge now is to believe it even when we can\u2019t see how.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he . \u2014 Deuteronomy 32:4 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[29],"class_list":["post-41694","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/41694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41694"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/41694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41700,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/41694\/revisions\/41700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41694"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=41694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}