SICKLY SECRETS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

One of the toughest parts to recovery is admitting when you "get it wrong".

Now before those of you who aren’t in “official”recovery decide to skip today's little thought and move on, hang with me for a second.

I believe we ALL are in recovery; sin recovery.

Romans 3:23 (NCV)

23 Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard,

But as I eluded above, one of the toughest things about recovery is admitting that we do fall short. Instead of owning up to our weaknesses we veil strength. Instead of accepting that we are broken we try to give the impression we have it all together.

We deflect. We defer. We blame. We duck and we weave.

And I will be the first one to admit, I am not a big fan of “airing” out my laundry. Lord knows I am “more than jacked up” in my own right, and sitting down and “talking about that” with someone else IS quite uncomfortable.

But I am learning and it is on my heart to share that GOD gave us confession not for embarrassment or ridicule but for HEALING.

I know that is crazy isn’t it?

But cultural pressures and our own fears lead us to“keeping our secrets…well, secret".

Yet GOD offers relief and freedom when we “open up”,when we get the “stuff” off our chest, when we air a little of that less than presentable laundry!

1 John 1:9 (NCV)

9 But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.

Confession allows us to be freed from guilt's emotional bondage and it relieves the pressure of our shame that invariably mounts when we suppress those “secrets”. There is a great saying from recovery that we are only as “sick as our secrets”. I believe that is why GOD stressed so clearly in James that confession was a “healing” influence, not a shameful one.

GOD wants to keep us healthy.

James 5:16 (NCV)

16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you.

I love this little song from Tenth Avenue North. It simply and profoundly synthesizes the power of a heart of confession and transparency and it drives my point home some much clearer than my prose ever could.

So you thought you had to keep this up

All the work that you do

So we think that you're good

And you can't believe it's not enough

All the walls you built up

Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down

There's freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out

Everything that you hide

Can come crashing through the door now

But too scared to face all your fear

So you hide but you find

That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down

There's freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We're here now

We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides

With the dark inside of us

So please don't fight

This coming light

Let this blood come cover us

His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Sick from the secrets?

Let your healing begin.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney