I’ve seen how hiding things in my life can actually harm myself and others. Even things I didn’t think were that big of an issue had an effect. The reality was that anything hidden has the potential to destroy. For many years, I hid an addiction that I didn’t want anyone to know about. As someone who had a really good reputation among his peers and leaders, I felt like any weakness should stay below the radar. I told myself for way too long that I could handle it on my own. I refused vulnerability in a prideful effort to maintain my holy appearance.
As you may have guessed, that secret ended up becoming a bowl of leftover food in the fridge that smelled horribly. It was something I was deeply ashamed of and could not bear the thought of letting anyone see. It eventually affected every area of my life, because it was affecting my heart. My relationships suffered. My work ethic suffered. My soul was in constant turmoil.
I didn’t see a solution until I saw someone else bringing light to the hidden sin in his life. Blown away at his brave transparency, I knew that was the only way for me to get free. But, the wrestle to get over my own pride was one I really struggled to win.
I won it though.
I pinned that junk down on the mat so hard that it changed my whole life. Really, it was Jesus pinning it down for me. But, I had a role to play in saying yes to His invitation to step into the light. I had to have courage to face my sin and ask for help. Inviting other people into your life, even if solely for the sake of seeing, should be more of a priority to us. We need to bring the right people into what we try to hide so that we can be held accountable to moving past those things. We actually need others’ perspective in order to remain on track. Sometimes, we can be a bit blinded to how much something is actually affecting us and it’s not until someone else says something about it that we realise we’ve been fooled. Plus, as we read in this scripture, “all that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open.” I think it’s better to ask for help and counsel than wait until you are exposed or that thing ends up destroying more than you wanted it to.
The rule of thumb I seek to apply to my life now is simple. Anytime I have even a small sense that I’m hiding something, I immediately try to bring it to light. I confess it to someone close to me. This goes for unforgiveness as well. The longer you let these things sit and fester, the more the enemy can do with them. His territory is darkness, so we have to do our best to keep our lives in the light. I’m not saying air your dirty laundry for the world to see. But, ask yourself if you may be trying to cover something up and think about who is in your life that you can let in to see what you have been trying to avoid dealing with.
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