By Ricky Smith

It is too hard! I quit! I confess this is usually my personal response to putting together a puzzle. I blame it on right brain versus left brain, or impatience. No matter the reason, I do struggle with puzzles and often step away after about 2 minutes or if it is more than 25 pieces and designed for a preschooler.  On the flip side, my wife loves them and will spend hours patiently sorting the various shapes to conquer the challenge and build the picture. 

Life presents us with puzzles from time to time. Some of them are challenges to master and others remind us of our human limitations. When we enter the realm of theology and faith, we work to reason with understanding the meaning of life, the purpose of pain, and the priority of relationships.  While challenging, these puzzles can be solved in our mind and comprehended.  

Other puzzles leave us more confused than when we started. For example, the concept of eternity is beyond our comprehension. We can explain it with logic, yet all we know is bound by space and time. Additionally, we know what the Bible says about the Trinity. At the same time, grasping how one thing can also be three things is mind-blowing. 

No matter its complexity, the nature of a Triune God is non-negotiable and essential for the Christian faith. Debates often lead to heretical traps that rely on inadequate earthly analogies and result in modalism or arianism.  

As Jesus commanded us in the Great Commission to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; we must guard and protect the importance of the Trinity. Furthermore, we must seek to understand the depth of His nature, while resting on acts of faith due to our limitations.

As you walk by faith, strive to acknowledge the Trinity in your prayer. Commit to work at the puzzle of His greatness. Below are some links that may provide helpful resources and a starting point on your faithful quest. Even though it is hard, the mining is worth the gems to discover and the picture when more assembled will leave us puzzling less and loving Him more