Across the Room

16 I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness. 17 I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.” Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

Someone sits across from me, carrying something complicated. I love helping people, but some weeks I catch myself giving the counsel I need. I'll encourage someone to let go of what they can't control, right after spending days trying to manage everything around me.

In Ecclesiastes 3, the Teacher looks at corrupt courtrooms and names what he sees. He doesn't explain the corruption away or pretend he can fix it. He simply remembers that a Judge stands above every human judgment, and that all of us eventually stand before Him.

My office isn't a courtroom, though helping someone sort through their life can make it feel like one.

I am not the judge here, though I can spot anxiety across the room in seconds while calling my own version “responsibility” or look at someone else's control issues and rebrand mine as “leadership”.

Naming what is wrong still matters, and the Teacher kept doing it. But we don't share God's bench; we live under His authority like everyone else.

Realizing that changes how I sit in the room. I need the truth as much as the person sitting across from me. Because Jesus already took the judgment my sin deserves, I don't have to get defensive when that truth points back at me. The words I share on Tuesday morning still apply to my heart when I walk out the door.

Father, keep me from seeing clearly everywhere except inside my own heart. Give me the humility to welcome Your counsel and keep me mindful that I sit under Your care too.