914) If I were to take the time and sit down to put together a puzzle, knowing myself, I might look at individual pieces and think, That’s a beautiful green or This puzzle must be of picture of a garden. When, in reality, the puzzle is a picture of a monster, poised to devour someone. This is often how we view life. We look at individual scenes and make conclusions that often are wrong.

In Luke 11:11-12, Jesus is asked how to pray and, giving some specific guidance, he says, “What father, when asked for fish, would give a snake? Or, “When asked for an egg, would give a scorpion?” I think what Jesus meant is, a lot of times, the things we ask for would do the same harm to us as a poisonous snake or scorpion. The rub is that we rarely look at God not doing what we specifically ask as a good thing. Our puzzle piece shows us a very limited view of the whole picture.

It truly is good that God doesn’t always give us what we ask for.