“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:13 NLT)
Every person, even every believer, has something in their present and/or past of which we’re ashamed and hope no one ever finds out. Why are we so afraid? There’s One who knows every detail of our life, better than we know ourselves, yet, upon confession of that sin it’s cast into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us again. And the reality is, His opinion of us is the only one that should matter.
Holding on to the guilt and shame of past, forgiven sin is a waste of time and effort. Here’s the deal, every person in our lives has done or thought something as bad or worse than we have. Satan’s goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” our hope and joy in Jesus, but Jesus’ goal is to give us an abundant and joy-filled life. Who are you going to believe? Jesus or the devil?
When my wife and I began attending a couple’s group in a church we’d only been attending a short while, we didn’t know anyone in the group on more than a very casual basis. We were doing a study that asked each participant to share their story, including how they came to know the Lord.
When it came my turn I believed the Lord was prompting me to share something that caused me great pain and of which I was very ashamed, but I wanted to obey the Lord so I shared. It took a while, but through my tears I poured out my story, having no idea how these “strangers” would respond. Their loving acceptance and affirmation blew me away.
For the first time in many years, I felt relief and at peace with my past. So, when I read these words by Ron Hutchcraft my heart rejoiced. Ron wrote: “And there’s great freedom when you know there’s nothing you’re hiding in the dark.” What are you still trying to hide?
What is it that you’re so afraid if someone was to ever find out they’d turn away from you or reject you. And please here me, you have to be VERY CAREFUL with whom you choose to share your past. Not everyone will accept you and understand when you share the sins of your past. And the other piece of it is, make sure it is in your past.
If it’s something with which you still struggle, there’s a place and time to share that as well, but again, choose your audience very carefully. The first person with whom you need to share your sin is Jesus. Confession literally means “to agree with God’s estimation of something.” That just means that if God says something is wrong, it’s wrong, period!
If you’re still making excuses for your sin, you won’t find forgiveness. You’ve got to come to grips with your inability to free yourself from what holds you captive, confess it to the Lord, then follow His guidance as you find another person, persons, or an organization to help you create a plan to put that with which you struggle behind you.
Some sins with which we wrestle may call for intervention from others, knowing that if we don’t have help, we literally won’t be able to turn from it. I think of things like drugs, alcohol, abuse of yourself or others, porn, lust and other sexual sins, and anything that’s unlawful. There are many emotional and relational issues that may be troublesome, but not necessarily sinful. Seek God’s guidance and the help of others for those things as well.
The bottom line here is that as a Jesus follower you were never made to walk with God alone. Let someone else know where you struggle and allow them to help you find the strength you need to turn from it.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 