Escape Plan

Written on 07/16/2021
Christian Dunn

Verse: Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Thoughts
Have you ever battled a sin in secret? I'm pretty sure we all have at one point or another. It is not fun.

I know in the past when I've dealt with secret sin, it feels like it is eating me alive from the inside out. The scenario normally goes something like this: temptation leads to sin. You try hard not to do it again, but you fall. Again. And then again. And then there's a bit of a cycle of it happening. And then the shame comes. And the shame is HORRIBLE.

All of this happens in secret. Maybe you even have thoughts about how no one else deals with this, and you are somehow less of a Christian or even less of a person.

This proverb offers all of us a way out. When we conceal our sin "we do not prosper." That's a bit of an understatement. But the pathway out is to "confess and renounce." In that confession we find mercy.

James tells us something very similar in James 5:16, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

Holding our sin in secret brings pain and shame. Confessing our sins to trusted believers - friends, mentors, parents - brings us healing. This is God's escape plan from secret sin: confession. I know it's scary. Trust me. I've done it! But getting it out of the secret, and into the open with a safe and trusted person will lift the weight off of you of carrying all alone, and begin to break the power of shame.

Prayer
Thank you Lord that you love me and forgive me no matter what I am battling right now. I pray you'd give me the courage to share, and the wisdom to decide with whom to share, so that I can find more healing.