PASTOR’S CORNER, Pat Mann, Chaplain, Liberal Good Samaritan Center, Liberal
Perhaps you sometimes have thoughts, feelings, secret opinions, perhaps even dark things hidden away in the deepest part of your being that you are not comfortable sharing with ANYONE, but you wish you could share those deep things with someone you can truly trust. Good news! There is someone with whom you can share even things that lie securely hidden from everyone. The God Who created you is omniscient – He knows EVERYTHING about you, even things you do not know about yourself.
The Bible tells us God knows the very number of hairs on your head. God knows your deepest thoughts and secrets – the real YOU that you may hide from everyone else. Does that make you comfortable or uncomfortable that someone exists who knows everything about you?
We have a God with whom we can unload all of those issues we don’t dare tell anyone else about. We have no issues God does not already know about, so why not open up to Him? We can be absolutely truthful when we meet with our heavenly Father in prayer. Do you hate someone? You can tell God. Are you carrying some unspoken long-term grudge against someone close to you? You can unload that on God. Do you inwardly rejoice when some tragedy befalls someone who has been a thorn in your side? Discuss that attitude with your heavenly Father. He will never be shocked or surprised.
There is something healing and cleansing about sharing those dark corners of your inner self with the Lord. A great hymn by Charles E. Moody, titled, “Kneel at the Cross,” has lyrics that say, “Leave with Him your care, And begin life anew.” There is something about having that “Little Talk with Jesus” that can set you free as the Lord sweeps the dust from those dark corners and fills them with new light. True confession brings freedom and healing.
Don’t tell the Lord that you “made a mistake.” Don’t tell the Lord that it was “someone else’s fault.” Don’t tell the Lord that you “slipped up.” Call it what the Lord calls it – call it SIN. Remember the verse that says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1st John 1:9 NIV). The Lord Jesus did not die so that your “mistakes” can be forgiven. He died to forgive sins.
Finally, the day comes that you really can share “those things” that once you kept hidden. Now you can truly speak about things you “used to feel” – all in the past now. As you testify about the cleansing you have experienced, you can be sure that someone else, perhaps many others who may be carrying dark secrets, may also find the freedom that comes from opening up to the Lord who is omniscient – One Who already knows all of their secrets and every dark corner of their lives, but still loves them.
