Let It Stay Crooked

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. Ecclesiastes 1:15

I’ve spent hours lying awake, rewriting a conversation that didn't go the way I wanted. In my head, if I just found the exact combination of words, I could fix the misunderstanding and set it right. But Ecclesiastes doesn't leave room for that illusion. Some things are crooked, and no amount of late-night rewriting will make them straight.

That’s uncomfortable to admit when you care about people. As a pastor and a family-man, my instinct is always to keep searching for another angle to fix what broke. Stepping back feels like failing.

Yet Ecclesiastes is clear: human effort can’t count what’s missing, and it can’t straighten what’s crooked. That boundary isn't a failure of faith; it’s the exact spot where we stop managing outcomes and rest in Christ as Savior.

Jesus entered our fractured world and carried our sin to the cross. He came to redeem what we never could, so we don't have to pretend we are anyone's savior.

Father, forgive my stubborn belief that I can fix what is broken. Give me grace to lay down the late-night rewriting, and trust Jesus with the people I can’t save.