Just Get Real...

I have to think that one of the things that we do that damages our relationship with God the most is when we act like He doesn't know everything going on in our life. How many times in your life have you felt like you were actually hiding things from God the way you can hide them from the people around you? Why is it that we allow ourselves to think this is possible? And trust me as I write this, I am talking about myself here too. I can think back to specific times in my life where I tried to convince myself that I could actually hide stuff from God. Talk about acting out of pure ignorance. I mean, He is the all seeing.. all knowing God, and I was going to play a game like that with Him? But I also know where my heart was at those times in my life, and I'm not sure now if I really was trying to hide "things" from him....or if "I" was just trying to hide from him. 

Let's face it, God is not about playing games! Why we do this with him is still beyond me. It is our human nature to hide things that make us feel shameful....and when we act out in sin, shame is a direct consequence of that sin. But that shame does not come from God, it comes from the enemy. God desires openness with us and a direct line of communication with Him. He desires us to come to Him and just "get real". When sin first came into the world what was the first thing man did...we hid from God. (see Genesis 3) Man had a direct communication with God. They walked together and talked together. They were completely open with each other. And then sin came into the picture and the first thing they did was hide from Him. And when I read this story in the bible I love how God interacts with them. He asks them questions. Not sure if you have ever thought about that, but this is God, do you really think He needed to ask them questions? No, but He wanted them to be open with Him.....to be real with Him.  And His actually questions to them that day pertain so much to us today when we think we can hide from Him. He said "where are you?", "who told you that you were naked(or who told you how you are)?" and "have you eaten from the tree...?" All of these are questions that God certainly knew the answer to, but He needed them to come to Him with their sin. He needed them to understand that He still wanted to talk to them, but there would be consequences of their sin...BUT they did not need to hide from Him. Now fast forward to Jesus. A man who knew no sin took on the consequences for our sin to once again make a way for us to talk to God again. And what do we still do sometimes when we sin? We go right to the same response as Adam and Eve and we try to either hide our sin....or hide ourselves from Him. 

The enemy convinced man to buy his lies in the garden and he has not stopped trying to convince us to buy his lies since then. God does NOT want you to walk in shame. He wants you to come to Him no matter what sin you have in your life....before...and after you have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do not allow sin to have the power to create space between you and God. When we try to hide things from God, we cannot come to Him FULLY. We will always be holding back something and that will hinder the work you can do for Him and the blessings you can receive from Him. 

So today I am challenging you to get real with God. Get in front of Him and be as real as you have ever been. Lay anything and everything at His feet and feel His love, forgiveness, grace and mercy in a way that you maybe never have. And the from this day forward, when you mess up, (and you are going to mess up) take it to Him immediately so you can keep that open and honest line of communication with Him. Nothing pleases God more than when we give Him FULL access to our heart! Proverbs 23:26 says "My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways." It doesn't even sound like it could work this way, but when we don't hide things from God...and are as real as possible with Him..we don't feel worse about ourselves, we actually feel better. He exchanges what should feel like guilt for the feeling of His forgiveness. He exchanges what should feel like shame for the feelings of HIs grace and mercy. And at a time when the enemy wants nothing more than for you to feel "ugly in your sin"....God will make you show you how beautiful He sees you.

God, thank You for loving the sinner and hating the sin. Thank You for never shutting us out of a relationship with you because of what is in our lives, but instead drawing us in closer at a time when we feel like hiding. Your love covers all shame, all guilt and all sin. Help us to KNOW this and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us so we can stay as real as possible with you. In Jesus name, Amen