Caught Red Handed

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” - James 5:16 

Children are magnificent little mirrors that reflect the unpolished heart of man.  Have you ever noticed a child who has done something wrong, but does not know they are being observed?  One of the first things they do is look around to see who might have seen them, and then they attempt to hide their sin.  If it is a stolen cookie, they quickly stuff it in their mouth or attempt to cover it their cleverly held hand or put it in a pocket.  Even if they are not caught with their hand in the cookie jar, most of the time lingering crumbs or melted chocolate on their shirt or in their pocket will be a dead give away that there is a child with a guilty conscience nearby.

Adam and Eve had a similar problem in the garden. They fell prey to temptation and disobeyed the one and only rule they had been given by God.  They ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 3:6).  Before that time, that were innocent and enjoyed the gift of the garden and unencumbered relationship with their creator. They walked unclothed and felt no shame. With their sin, they suddenly felt guilt and shame for the first time. Recognizing their nakedness, they attempted to fashion clothing from fig leaves to cover their shame.

And so it is with us today.  We sin and strive to hide it from God and from one another.  In the covering of our sin, we propagate a second sin — an unspoken lie, an attempt to deceive. We employ a form of slight of hand to distract and draw attention away from our sin. We laugh louder, put on a happy face, share stories of our victories and photographs of picture-perfect children holding trophies.  We even stage photos depicting our perfect life. All the while we feel like we are dying inside.

And the damage does not stop there. It is painful to live with the profound weight of our poor choices on our minds.  So, we compensate with just a little something to lift our mood — something to numb the gnawing ache in our soul.  We self medicate with gossip about people we feel are worse off than we.  We binge watch TV and videos, indulge in shopping, overeating, alcohol, drugs, affairs, video games, pornography, self mutilation... The enemy has a vast array of addictions with which to ensnare us in our attempt to alleviate our pain.  Each one of these hooks in our mouths comes with an ever-greater depth of pain, regret, shame and self-loathing.

The Father’s solution to this mess is laid out simply enough. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. God is certainly powerful enough to heal us by Himself, but He saw in the garden that it isn’t good for us to be alone (Gen 2:18). We are designed to live in community and we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another. But this confession is not so we will be forgiven, but that we would be healed.  

But we want to go it alone. We don’t want the humiliation that comes with coming clean about what has plagued us.  We decide, instead, that we will just try harder. Our pride prevents us from pulling back the curtain to show the inner workings of our heart.  Unfortunately, pride comes before a fall (Pro 16:18) and we succumb again.  The enemy wants us to think we are the only one, while in actuality, the ground at the foot of the cross is remarkably level, “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).”

The enemy is crafty. He attempts to keep us hiding our sin both from God and from one another, thus keeping us sick and addicted with the ever-growing weight of guilt and shame on our shoulders. Hiding plays into his hand as he plots to kill, steal and destroy — to lure a weakened, compromised sheep from the safety of the flock. He longs to keep our sin hidden, so we will never taste forgiveness, freedom or healing, and we will never fully realize the effectiveness and power available to us as children of God.

Not everyone in this world is a safe person with which to bare your soul and expose your sin. We need to use wisdom and discernment in the sharing of such things, but we ARE called to expose our sin to the light of truth.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says it beautifully, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” 

Beloved, if you are stuck in sin or an addiction, if you are carrying the weight of shame like an anvil around your neck, I implore you to get free. I urge you to find safe people with whom you can find accountability and healing. There are groups, churches and counselors with whom you will be safe to bare your soul and find healing. 

Heavenly Father, I bring this dear one reading this before You. If their heart has been touched or their conscience pricked, I ask that this prompting of Your Holy Spirit will not go unheeded.  In Your love and compassion, chase them until they can run no more.  Father, bring safe people to come along side of them to lead them to accountability and healing. Bless them with courage and boldness.  May their confession of their brokenness, powerlessness and humility be met with astounding grace and compassion. May what they feared and avoided most, be the catalyst with which You bring them freedom from bondage and a renewed future and hope.  Remove the hook from their mouth, Father. Lift the poisonous craving that torments them. Take it away by the stripes of Jesus.  And it is in the Name of Jesus that we pray ❤️

Dear Friend, if you need help, please seek it. Don’t let the sun go down without taking steps.  I would be delighted to share resources to move you in the right direction. Fear is in the hiding. Freedom is in bringing it out into the open. You can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you.💡

If you have been encouraged or challenged, please repost and further His kingdom!