Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. — Hebrews 4:13
Big Idea #9. Be honest … with yourself … with God … with your neighbor.
I don’t know if everybody needs to learn this the hard way, but I sure did. I wanted so badly to please God, just as a child I had wanted so badly to please my parents. But I believed, deep down, that God would only be pleased with me if I did everything right. Of course, I didn’t know how to do everything right. I couldn’t do everything right.
Logically, there is a simple conclusion here: I must do everything right to please God. I can’t do everything right. Therefore, I cannot please God.
But emotionally and spiritually, it isn’t that simple. To come to the conclusion that God would never be happy with me was too much to bear. So I needed to pretend. I needed to pretend to myself, to my world and to my God. I needed to put on a show. I needed to act spiritual even when I didn’t feel spiritual inside.
Of course, this is schizophrenic. It is widespread. It is commonly practiced among Christians. And it is schizophrenic. On one hand we have the illusion — the saint who acts religious. On the other hand, we have the reality — the sinner that we try to hide from others, from God and from ourselves.
I don’t remember what all brought me to the point of honesty. But I think part of it was learning that I couldn’t hide even if I tried. If I was angry at God, He already knew. If I was thinking lustful thoughts, He already knew. If I didn’t feel like witnessing or going to church or whatever, He already knew.
So I decided to take the Big Risk. I decided to start telling God and myself the truth. I didn’t know what would happen, but I thought I would risk it and find out.
As you can see, I didn’t get struck with lightning. I didn’t get paddled for telling the truth. Instead, I ran into something I never expected.
Unconditional love.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
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