“The usual notion of what Jesus did on the cross runs something
like this: people were so bad and so mean and God was so angry with them that
He could not forgive them unless somebody big enough took the rap for the whole
lot of them. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross. Golgotha came as a
result of God’s great desire to forgive, not His reluctance. Jesus knew that by
His vicarious suffering He could actually absorb all the evil of humanity and
so heal it, forgive it, redeem it.” Richard Foster, Celebration
of Discipline
Picking up from yesterday, God is not angry with you. He
loves you and always has. I always
remember a billboard someone put up in their yard in the Orlando area where we
used to live: “God loves you; get over
it.”
So then what is the role of confession? It is our role in
the process that God has laid out for healing and transformation. “So,” you may ask, “we have a role in God’s
healing and transformation?” Yes, hear
these two scriptures:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1
John 1:9
“They called him every name in the book and he said
nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He
used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin,
free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You
were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re
named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:23-25
The highlighted text in 1 Peter above is a quote from the
Old Testament book of Isaiah. Peter
takes this image from the Old Testament to reaffirm that healing our sins (not
punishing someone for them) has always been God’s attitude towards us. However, he doesn’t force that healing upon
us. Confession is our role in inviting
God into our life and all that goes with it, including our sin. Only when God has been invited, will He come
in and begin to heal the sin and put us on a path toward a better and more
whole life.
But here’s the trouble.
Most never actually invite God INTO their sin. Like Adam and Eve in the first Garden, we
hide. It feels scary to let God into the
darkest parts of ourselves. It’s like
letting a surgeon put us under helpless anesthesia and work on us with a crazy
sharp knife. In order to do that, we
have to trust that surgeon implicitly and trust that she has good
intentions. You see where I’m going with
this, so let’s go there.
Do you trust that God loves you, wants to heal your
darkness, and is actually capable of doing it?
Until your answer to that is “Yes,”
confession will be a discipline you avoid. If your answer is “yes,” here’s your homework
for tomorrow; make a short list
(I emphasize “short” – only 2, maybe three things) of some unhelpful or
unhealthy patterns if behavior in your life.
If you fear writing that down anywhere, just keep the list in your
mind. But come tomorrow ready to work
with your list.
Prayer: God, show me
the “dark places” that I have kept you out of in my life. Inspire in me the trust to let you do your
healing work in those places.
Prayer focus: Pray
for yourself today. Spend at least of
few minutes sharing the deepest concerns of your heart.
Song: Reckless Love (Cover
by Chad Graham)
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