There Are Some Things We Cannot Fix

A wise woman from Tekoa was brought in to have a conversation with King David - who was relentlessly mourning over his broken relationship with his son Absalom. This schism had gone on for three years and King David’s political handler, Joab, was concerned about the implications of this dispute for the kingdom over which David ruled. Joab called in this woman to counsel David in a sneaky attempt to get David and Absalom reunited. She starts out by telling a story and getting David’s advice. When she has him trapped by his own words, she says:

“Haven’t you been hurting God’s people? Your own son had to leave the country….We each must die and disappear like water poured out on the ground. But God doesn’t take our lives. Instead, he figures out ways of bringing us back when we run away.

2 Samuel 14:13-14 Contemporary English Version

We must fix what we can fix. But not everything is fixable. Although David did bring Absalom back into the fold the story ends poorly. Absalom plots a coup, David and he go to war, Absalom ends up dead. David mourns the loss of his boy, which was very confusing for the army who had saved David’s behind by killing his boy. What a mess.

There is a level of brokenness that we just cannot repair. There is nothing we can do or say or barter or buy that will take away the pain we have caused others in some situations. This is the time when we may need to return to Step Three and remember that we made a decision to turn our lives and wills over to the care of God.

Sometimes brokenness is so profound, a direct amends is not advisable.