For as long as I can remember, I have always had jigsaw puzzles kicking around. They are one of those things where I have to be in the right frame of mind to work on.. If I am in the right frame of mind I might just pull one out and start the puzzle. There are times when I push through until the finish. These are usually the smaller puzzles of 500 pieces or less. Other times the puzzle is just too challenging. I get bogged down and eventually pack it all back in the box. Maybe I’ll give it another go another time.

Some of the most disheartening times when it has to do with jigsaw puzzles are when I get the puzzle almost completed and realize one or two pieces are missing. I’ll look on the floor. Maybe perhaps the pieces got kicked under the sofa. I am not at peace until I find those pieces. Sometimes I don’t. If I don’t locate those pieces the puzzle will always be incomplete.

It is very fascinating that the Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. It means safe, happy, friendly, welfare, prosperity, favor and wholeness. Shalom is the state of being in which nothing is missing and nothing is broken. This seems so contrary to the broken world we live. Just go on the news or the internet for a quick reminder how messed up things are. So many places on our planet there is conflict and war.

In a New York Times article, journalist, author, historian and Presbyterian minister Chris Hedges defines war as “an active conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives.” Has the world ever been at peace? Chris Hedges mentions “that of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for only 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.” In the 20th century alone, at least 108 million people were killed in wars. A staggering statistic, “from 1940 to 1996 (a period that includes several cycles of war and peace, including the arms race of the cold war), America spent $16.23 trillion on the military ($5.82 trillion of that on nuclear weapons), versus $1.70 trillion on health care and $1.24 trillion on international affairs.” For the last couple of decades the nuclear threat cooled down considerably. But recently it has heated up dramatically.

Even recorded in the Bible there was war and conflict. Empires rose. Empires fell. The Old Testament prophets were seeing war and destruction on every side. They must have been feeling very war weary, a term that means exhausted and dispirited by war or conflict. Micah was one of those prophets who lived between 725BC and 610BC. Amidst all the terrible stuff happening, he shares an amazing prophecy. A child will be born in Bethlehem who will rule and be their peace.

Fast forward approximately 700 years, in a stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a virgin by the name of Mary gave birth to this promised Messiah. The name He was given was Jesus, which means Savior. Micah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Another piece added to the puzzle. Jesus came to bring peace. Not peace between man or nations, but peace with God. Jesus would break down the barrier between God and man and reconcile mankind to God by His death on a cross. No matter what situation we may be experiencing, Jesus can give us peace. When we put our trust in Him.

Jesus rose from the grave. Another puzzle piece added. He ascended to Heaven. And another puzzle piece added. And He is coming again to rule a world that will at last experience peace. It will be a time when there will no more conflict, no more war. Security systems and locks won’t have any use, because there will be no evil or crime. That final puzzle piece will have been put in place in this complex, puzzling, challenging, sinful world. No missing pieces. There will at last be true Shalom, translated peace. Which means safe, happy, friendly, welfare, prosperity, favor and wholeness. It is the state of being in which nothing is missing and nothing is broken.