[Discoveries] 01-09-07 Shame and light

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and 
renounces them finds mercy. -- Proverbs 28:13*/

What would happen if you were found out?

I have had many thoughts, plans and desires that I wouldn't want 
broadcast to the world. I have made stupid and embarrassing mistakes.

All of us have felt the pain of shame. That pain is tied to a lie -- if 
I talk, I will be exposed, and the whole world will laugh at me. Then 
I'll be nothing more than a grease spot on the bottom of the floor.

But God calls on us to do the counter intuitive -- to step out from 
behind the curtain of our own shame into the light of His presence. As 
we do, we step through a vulnerable moment when we don't know what will 
happen. Yes, we know with our theology, but we don't yet know in our 
hearts, because what happens next is something that must be experienced 
to be understood.

What will the God of the universe do when He sees how hopelessly 
shameful we really are? We dare not lift our heads. But His eyes find 
our own, and we search those eyes in vain for the disgust and 
disapproval we imagined. How did it happen? We don't completely 
understand it, but suddenly we are clothed in radiance.

Mercy has found us. In mercy we dance the dance of freedom.

I want to add a footnote here. What I described happens at conversion, 
but it is also part of the Christian's journey, of our journey. Our sins 
-- both real and imagined -- force us into hiding. God coaxes us back 
out into the light. In the light we find freedom, and in the light our 
sins and shame lose their power.

Be encouraged!
Dwight


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