We are as sick as our secrets
Abbie Sharpe
S E C R E T S. The hidden corners in our lives that are difficult to keep, but even more difficult to share. Secrets which are not confined to whispered confessions from a friend over dinner but which are stored in poisonous vials, harbored in a dark corner of the soul, slowly spilling and killing the heart and spirit. They come disguised as the past that promises to define your future. The mistakes that mar your name. The regrets that haunt with each look in the mirror. The memories that return with each day dawning.
Secrets weigh us down, spiraling us into a season of isolation, trapping us into a cycle of sin and more sin in order to cover up what is being hidden. Secrets tangle us in a web of shame, doubt, and uncertainty, providing temporary false shields of anonymity and protection, all the while giving the enemy easy access to unleash some serious and detrimental spiritual warfare. You see, keeping secrets allows us to deny or hide the fact there is a sin in our life. We become separated from light, shrouded in darkness. To put it mildly, our secrets simply make us sick.
Where do I find healing from my secrets? How can God use my secrets for good?
Take a look at David, a man described as one after God’s own heart. In 2 Samuel 11, David lusts after Bathsheba, another man’s wife. After luring her to his home and impregnating her, David then seeks out her husband and arranges for his murder. Talk about a huge secret to harbor! How can one recover from such sin and secrecy to become a king and a man referred to as a hero?
Psalm 32 describes the struggle King David felt while hiding his sin, his bones literally wasting away as he groaned in agony (Psalm 32:3). There were consequences to his sin and his secret was making him sick! How do we purge this sickness from our lives? How do we uproot the bitter fruit planted firmly in our soul? Repentance. David explains in Psalm 51 what true repentance looks like: an honest approach to acknowledging our sins as God sees them and asking for forgiveness. David longs for righteousness and restoration as he begs God to create in him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. The subsequent peace that David describes as an olive tree flourishing in the house of God (Psalm 52:8) is granted after confession and repentance. Proverbs 28:13 promises, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Psalm 90:8 states even our secret sins are known to God. There is no secret that God does not already know about.
Our father is a father who forgives, redeems, and restores. He is waiting with arms outstretched, ears open to hear, and a heart ready to pour out an endless supply of mercy and grace on those who call on him. 2 Corinthians 3:16-17 gives us a refreshing glimpse of the hope that lies with repentance: “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Freedom. Freedom from the lies, from the pain. Freedom from the shame and the guilt and the attacks the enemy has unleashed upon you for far too long. Freedom is for you and for me and it’s F R E E.
Confession is always the first step to recovery, whether that be from sin, secrecy, or an addiction struggle. God already knows our struggles; He simply asks that we turn to him for guidance and for safekeeping of those secrets we hold so tightly in our hearts. Our father offers total forgiveness for total disclosure. What is stopping you from finding healing for the sickness?
Reflect:
- Do you have a secret you have not brought before God? What is keeping you from the freedom that follows confession and repentance?
- Do you trust that the Lord will forgive and redeem you? Have you experienced God’s grace and mercy in the past? Remind yourself of His faithfulness.
- Spend some time reading David’s story. The same God who forgave and restored David is the same God who is waiting to forgive and restore you!