My heart is heavy as I write this.
Although we’re all sinful and broken, seeing the mighty fall is painful, heart wrenching, and incredibly sobering.
It makes me want to throw up.
Especially when it involves individuals in the faith who have gone ahead of us, paved the way, ministered locally and globally, and seemed to be living a life of faithfulness to the Lord.
I guess God wanted to shine the light and reveal what was hidden.
And this time, he didn’t use a flashlight; he went for the jugular and used those outdoor flood lights you see at baseball fields.
This declaration by the prophet Daniel seems to be quite fitting for this time,
May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him.
He changes the times and seasons;
he removes kings and establishes kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those
who have understanding.
He reveals the deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
(Daniel 2:20-22, CSB)
Jesus puts it another way,
For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light. (Luke 8:17, CSB)
Though sin might feel like a personal thing that you can hide, it will eventually come to light.
Jesus will reveal it.
He knows what’s in the darkness, and he is the light.
If you aren’t willing to take steps to deal with your sin today, he will deal with it for you…on his own timing. And trust me, you don’t want him to bring it to light for you.
I love what it says here in the Proverbs,
Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin. (Proverbs 24:16, CSB)
The enemy wants to take you out.
He wants to do this because he knows that sin-induced implosions are the way to get to your spouse, your children, your ministry, your family, and your life.
And the enemy knows the kingdom potential that is within a family that generationally knows, loves, and serves God. It’s not about having masses of complacent and consumeristic Christians; what will cause the greatest impact for the kingdom is a few being faithful over the long haul.
So when you fall to sin (it’s not an if, it’s a when), get up!
And when you fall again, get up again.
Again and again as we read above in Proverbs 24:16.
The enemy wants to grind against your soul, wear you down, and make you feel like change is hopeless. He wants to condemn you and tear you apart.
But take heart because “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, CSB)!
You are never beyond the point of forgiveness or out of the reach of Christ because “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, CSB).
So if you’re living in sin, follow these two steps to get up again:
- Confess your sins to Jesus because his “grace is sufficient for you,” his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9, CSB).
- But also “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:16, CSB).
It’s not enough to just confess your sins to God, you have to confess your sins to others as well.
This is what will bring the sin to light and loosen sin’s grip on you.
Friends, shine the light on your sin before God shines on it for you because “nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light” (Luke 8:17, CSB).
If you would like to read more on this, here’s another post that I wrote to go along with this topic, Why Isolation, Boredom, and Pride are as Dangerous as Dynamite.