Uncommon Sense | a Study of Proverbs : A 5-Day StudySample

Day 3: Coming out of Hiding

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

P R O V E R B S 2 8 : 1 3

Have you ever made an assumption about someone, only to be proven wrong later? Ouch. Or maybe you were one-hundred percent confident you were on the right road home. You even argued with the GPS and then suddenly exclaimed, I am completely wrong! No fun! All we want to do in those times is hide. When the light has been turned on to our obvious errors, we naturally search for a dark corner to hide in. We come by this honestly. This instinct to hide hearkens back to our first parents, Adam and Eve, who hid from God when they sinned (Genesis 3:8).

Hiding leads to harm

Our nature is to hide, yet hiding is harmful. We harm ourselves, we harm relationships with others, and we harm our relationship with God. Why do we remain hidden? What keeps us from confessing to God and others? Some of us have experienced deep shame when we confessed our sin to a person in the past. That awful memory remains embedded in our hearts, and our hearts respond with self-protection. Others of us have been told that good people do not sin and should not sin, so when we fall short of perfection, we beat ourselves up, telling ourselves, “You should have known better!” or “How can you be so stupid?” Some of us worry that people would think less of us if they knew what we were thinking or what we did behind closed doors. Isn’t it safer to remain hidden?

These secret hiding places are not safe places; they are self-made cages.They are places of isolation, shame, and self-loathing. We were made to sing, but hiding silences us. We have silenced ourselves through our sin, but God invites us to raise our voices again. In confession we find freedom, healing, hope, relationship, and joy. He longs for us to be free to sing!

It may seem safer to remain hidden, yet God’s invitation and promise of forgiveness says it is safe to come out. Will we trust His invitation? God is inviting us to trust His promise of forgiveness, mercy, and grace. To admit our sin also means admitting our humanity and lack of perfection. It means admitting that we can and have disappointed people. It means admitting that we are not God, and we need a Savior. Confession takes courage. Confession takes heart.

Mercy is ours

Mercy is ours, friends. Mercy that comes from God Himself. From the cross of Christ, whose innocent and perfect blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. He invites us to confess our sin and find freedom for our burdened hearts. Freedom from the guilt, from the isolation, from the cage. As we confess, He brings healing, hope, mercy, and forgiveness.This echo of mercy and forgiveness never fades. It does not diminish over time, nor does it run dry. It is steady and true. His mercy and grace are as strong as ever, a constant assurance of the truth that in Christ, we are forgiven.

To confess our sins entails acknowledging them by coming out of hiding. And in speaking our confessions, we open the door to our cages and, like a liberated songbird, find that our voices were made for music. God invites us to confess, to speak, and then learn to sing the songs of His goodness and grace in a world that needs to hear our song. Will you sing today?

Reflection:

Spend time in prayer asking God to show you any unconfessed sin. Would you courageously confess? Also, if you have trusted friend or friends, consider bringing your sin to light with them, that they might speak God’s grace and forgiveness back to you.