Have you ever been guilty of trying to hide something in your life? Maybe you have convinced yourself that you’ve even been successful in hiding it from God. Wrong! The Bible is clear that the revealing of our secrets is the beginning of healing.
James 5:16 (ESV) — 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
God, in His mercy, often brings us to a place of confrontation so we can escape the prison of concealing and find His grace in confession and repentance. Take a look at what happened to Zacchaeus, who thought he could get a glimpse of Jesus without being found. Jesus, however called him out with a result of admission of guilt and turning from his sin.
Luke 19:1–10 (ESV) — 1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Thinking we can hide our sin from God is nothing new. Our parents, Adam and Eve, tried to do the same but God was not fooled.
Genesis 3:8–10 (ESV) — 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
When you stop and consider what God has revealed about Himself, do you really think you can go on hiding?
Jeremiah 23:24 (ESV) — 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
When we try to hide from God, our sins create a barrier between us and God so as to get the sense that He is hiding His face from us; but remember who created the barrier.
Isaiah 59:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
No wonder David was concerned about the secret sins. Just as with David, our sin is not hidden from God; rather we try to hide our sin and convince our mind that they are hidden from God.
Psalm 19:12–13 (ESV) — 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
God in His mercy brings face to face with His word and calls us to confess our guilt and repent from our ways, otherwise to continue to hide our sin is to stay on a pathway of misery.
Proverbs 28:13 (ESV) — 13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Is there anything you’re trying to hide? Remember it’s no use trying to hide things from God. On the other hand, revealing your sin is the beginning of healing because with God there is mercy, forgiveness, and restoration.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker
