Coming Clean
Coming Clean
Your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen. (Isa. 59:2)
When We’re Hiding
Does God seem distant to you today? Have you prayed but felt nothing? Have you read the Bible but heard nothing? The fact is, we can engage in all kinds of spiritual disciplines and still be convinced that God has removed Himself from our problems, unaware of our desires and deaf to our pleas. Is something wrong with Him?
The prophet Isaiah asserted that the problem is not with God but often with us. The sins you haven’t dealt with—whether from going too fast to notice them or wanting too badly to hold on to them—build “barriers between you and your God,” causing Him to “hide His face from you so that He does not listen.” God is not hiding from us; we are hiding from Him, not wanting Him to have access to every part of us, only the parts we feel comfortable with Him knowing about.
When We’re the Problem
In the movie Apollo 13, Commander Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) uttered the words, “Houston, we have a problem.” We, too, have a problem. We harbor sinful habits, words, actions, and attitudes that we try to conceal. Rather than admitting our sin, we hope that praying, Bible reading, and church attendance will cancel it out. It won’t.
Communion with God is preceded by confession before God. To fully experience His presence, we must come out of hiding and acknowledge our ongoing struggle. Abundant forgiveness is available, but first we must admit that we need it.
Bottom Line
God doesn’t expect perfection, but He does expect honesty.