So there I was, the day after Christmas, faced with the only phrase that can strike more fear into unprepared parents’ hearts than “batteries not included”: Some Assembly Required.

Hundreds of pieces were strewn out across the table before us. They sure didn’t resemble the finished product on the box cover. But block by block, carefully following the instruction manual, we assembled it.

That’s when it struck me: Lego sets are a bit like life.

God gives us all the pieces [we need], maybe not all at once in neat packages, but all in time: His time.

And as well as giving us a glimpse of the finished product, He also provides an instruction manual, the Bible. He gives us a step-by-step guide; He doesn’t leave us flailing in the dark trying to figure how all these pieces fit together to form something beautiful.

But it’s going to take some time. [This set didn’t take too long, but Big bro’s lego star wars x-wing with over 600 pieces… OOF.] And even with access to the instructions, sometimes we get ahead of ourselves or just pick up the wrong piece.

In life as in lego building, we are probably going to make some mistakes and spend some time undoing and redoing them correctly. This hard work is worth it and affects later steps.

You even might have a friend or partner along the way, someone with the same goal in mind to help you find where the pieces fit. For those of us who seek to walk with Christ, those comrades are the church (the people, that is; not the building).

Now I know life is not as simple as a lego set. In real life, pieces can feel missing, broken, ill-fitting, etc. But in real life, we have access not just to a step-by-step instruction manual, but a living book. And I do not have to rely only on my ability to figure out the directions, I have the Holy Spirit (the Counselor, Jesus called Him in John 16:7, 13-14)…

So, anyhoo, that’s what I learned from my sons’ lego sets this Christmas… Anyone else out there have some toys teaching them a thing or two?