Capitol Reef National Park

There Are Wrinkles…

The Waterpocket Fold at Capitol Reef National Park, as seen from the air, courtesy of the National Park Service.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

—James 1:5

There are wrinkles, and there are wrinkles. Then there is the wrinkle at Capitol Reef National Park—a wrinkle so big they gave it a name.

The Waterpocket Fold stretches for nearly one hundred miles across southern Utah. Early travelers found it difficult to cross, and prospectors compared the long barrier to a reef at sea. With no way over or through it, and no way to make it disappear, there were no easy solutions.

Life has wrinkles like that too.

Some problems are simple to solve. Others make you wonder if a solution is even possible. In the face of trials like that, what are we supposed to do?

Too often we waste energy trying to solve things that are not really solvable. We replay conversations that cannot be undone, fight circumstances we cannot control, or keep pushing against limitations that are not going anywhere soon. At the same time, we can become too quick to ignore problems that need attention, courage, repentance, effort, or change.

James offers a different path forward—seek wisdom. Wisdom is more than knowing what is right or wrong. Sometimes it is knowing what kind of problem is in front of us and what faithfulness looks like from there.

Can it be fixed? Then perhaps the faithful response is to act. Can it be changed? Then change it. Is there something to confess, repair, confront, learn, or improve? Then patience might not be progress.

Even then, some wrinkles remain. When they do, faithfulness may look less like removing the obstacle and more like learning how to move through it without allowing it to define us. In a word, enduring.

Capitol Reef is still marked by its great wrinkle. Roads and trails did not erase it; they learned to navigate the landscape that was already there.

Sometimes we have to do the same. Wisdom does not promise that every wrinkle can be smoothed out. It helps us know when to act, when to endure, and how to keep moving faithfully through what lies ahead.

Reflection:What problem in your life are you trying hardest to solve right now? Do you need courage to act, patience to endure, or wisdom to recognize the difference?

Prayer:Lord, give me wisdom for the problems in front of me. Keep me from wasting energy fighting what I cannot control or ignoring what I should confront. Teach me to walk faithfully through every wrinkle along the way. Amen.