There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke 12:2-3
New International Version
A little kid just broke his mommy’s favorite vase. He was told not to play with it, but he did it anyways thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to just try it once. Now, he looks at the shards on the floor and wonders what to do next. Solution A: Tell mom what he did and face the consequences. Solution B: Hide the shards under the closest rug and pretend it never happened. He decides that Solution B sounds a lot nicer since, in his mind, there is a 99% chance she wouldn’t find the pieces.
Fast forward thirty minutes. Mom comes home from work. She’s tired but decides to clean the living room. She starts with the dusting and comes across the table her vase is usually on, but the vase is gone. Knowing that no one would move it to another table she instantly begins looking for rugs with humps. A few minutes later she finds the hidden pieces. Now, the son is not only in trouble for breaking the vase but for trying to hide the evidence. He could have been grounded for a week but now he’s grounded for a month.
Do you get the point here? We make mistakes, we make bad choices, we’re only human after all! However, we have the choice of confessing and making it right with God or pretending that we can hide it and then getting in worse trouble later.
When you read the story about the little boy and the vase, did you think it was immature of him to hide the pieces under a rug? Well, trying to hide your sins under lies and deception is just as immature. You can’t hide them. You just can’t. Even if you “hide” it here on earth for your entire life, it’ll come out into the open when you die. You can deal with it now and be forgiven by God, or you can pretend like you’re right and God’s wrong and cause yourself a world of pain.
So, now we have to confront the elephant in the room, pride. When you refuse to turn to God and admit that you’ve sinned against Him, you’re allowing pride to keep you from the better things the Lord has for you. Why would you expect God to lead you in His will and to bless you with doing His good work if you aren’t even willing to admit that you need forgiveness? Pride before the fall.
Take time today to examine your heart. What are you trying to hide from God? Now is the time to be made right with God. I challenge you to be uncomfortable before the Lord. Press into His correction and follow His promptings to be made new. The hardest part of this process is the severing. When God identifies the root of the problem, you must sever the connection.
Here’s the example I like to use: If God revealed to a drug user that their drug use is the root of their problem and the drug user decides to use drugs less, do you think they have surrendered their problem to God and done what He wants? I sure hope you said no.
So, for your problem: If God revealed that a person/thing/show/etc. is the root of the problem and you merely spend less time with it, are you doing what God asked of you and surrendering to Him? Again, you should have said no.
It is never easy to separate from something that has become a part of your life. However, it isn’t impossible. I have done it before, so I know you can do it. I’ve separated from friends who have become negative influences, and there was instant change. But human nature it this: if you never separate from the source of the problem, you will never fix the problem.
Again, take some time and be brutally honest with yourself. What source (person/place/thing/etc.) do you need to separate from? Don’t make excuses to avoid getting rid of it. Instead, let go and allow God to help you release your grip. Don’t procrastinate on letting go. If you want to follow God, you must be willing to have an instant release on your grip of bad things. Finally, fill that empty space with God, nothing else.
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Luke 11:21-26
New International Version
When you clear out the issue, even a little bit and then you let it back in, it’s worse than if you had never let go at all. Let go fully and fill yourself with God so that you can truly live to the fullest with God. Read the Word, pray, worship in music, do all things for the Lord!
Living your life with God here on earth and having eternal life in heaven are more important than you being right. I hope that you take this seriously and begin to work with God to become closer to Him. God loves you beyond what any human could. When you become made right with Him, it is so much easier for you to recognize His love in your life, and it is a sign of your love for God.
