Imagine watching a two-hour movie and just as everything is about to make sense, the screen goes black. No ending. No explanation. Just the credits.

You'd probably sit there thinking, “Wait. That's it?”

Like a puzzle with a missing piece, there's something frustrating about a story that doesn't give us an ending. And it's even harder when that story is ours.

Someone walks away without explaining why. A friendship ends and you're left confused. Someone hurts you but never admits it. Someone dies while there are still things you wish you'd said to them.

We want the ending that makes everything make sense. But life doesn't always give us one.

Sometimes the credits roll while we're still waiting for answers.

One of the hardest things about not getting closure is that even though something has ended, your mind doesn't always know how to leave it there.

Something reminds you of what happened, and suddenly you're replaying the last conversation in your mind. Was there something I missed? Was I the problem? What would I say or do if I saw them again?

Maybe you check their social media and wonder how they seem to have moved on so easily. Or someone new comes into your life and you find yourself questioning them because of what somebody else did.

For the person who lost someone, it can be the phone call you didn't make or return, the visit you kept putting off, or the things you wish you'd said while you still had the chance.

That's what unresolved endings can do. They keep taking us back to something we can no longer change. And sometimes we start believing that one missing piece is what will make everything better.

If I could just know why.
If they would just apologize.
If I could talk to them one more time. Then maybe I could finally move on.

And maybe that would help. But what if you never get that closure? Because sometimes the person with the missing piece cannot or will not give it to you.

Near the end of Paul's life, he wrote about some of the people who had hurt or disappointed him.

Demas had deserted him. Alexander had done him “a great deal of harm.” And when Paul needed support during his first defense, he says, “everyone deserted me.” (2 Timothy 4:16)

Imagine how hurt Paul must have felt. Imagine the questions he may have had. Why did these people leave me when I needed them? Why would someone I trusted do this to me?

Yet the Bible never tells us that Demas came back to explain why he left, or that Alexander ever came back, hat in hand, to apologize for the harm he'd caused.

But in the very next verse, Paul tells us something powerful: “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” (2 Timothy 4:17)

Paul had been let down by people, but he wasn't left alone by God.

Sometimes the apology, explanation or conversation we're waiting for may never come. But we don't have to wait for it before we learn to move forward.

Sometimes without realizing it, we put a condition on our peace.

I'll feel better when they apologize.
I'll move on when I understand why.
I'll let it go when they admit what they did.

And maybe the person is no longer with us, and all you want is one more conversation. One chance to say “I'm sorry,” “I forgive you,” “I love you,” or simply ask the questions you never got to ask.

The problem is that we're waiting for something we may never get. And what happens if it never comes?

They may never admit they were wrong. Their explanation may never make sense to you. They may not even realize you're still waiting for an answer. Or maybe the person you need to have that conversation with is gone.

That doesn't mean you didn't deserve an apology, an explanation or a chance to make things right. It means you have to be careful not to make your peace depend on getting an ending life may no longer be able to give you.

Sometimes closure is accepting, “I may never get the answer I wanted, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life waiting for it.”

You can still have questions. You can still wish things had ended differently. You can still miss someone and wish you'd had more time. You just don't have to keep your life on pause waiting for a final scene that may never come.

Closure feels good. There is something comforting about finally getting an answer, hearing the apology or having the conversation that helps you make sense of everything.

But when that missing piece never comes, it doesn't mean you're left with nothing.

God's Word may not tell you why someone did what they did. It may not answer every question you wish you could ask them. But it can remind you of what is still true when those questions remain unanswered.

You are still loved. God is still with you. And like Paul when the people he expected to stand with him didn't, you can also turn to God for the strength you need.

The answers you desperately want may never come. But your peace was never meant to depend on getting them.

✝ Kingdom Mantra