What are your hidden sins? We work especially hard to hide those areas in our lives that we know are wrong. We may be able to keep those sins hidden from others, but we can never keep them hidden from God:

You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. (Psalm 90:8)

God is omniscient – He is aii-knowing and that includes knowing everything about us. He knows our past, our present, and our future. Therefore, it makes no sense to try to hide anything from God. We must realize that we pay a hefty price for our secret sins. David revealed the agony he experienced as he attempted to cover up his sin:

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. (Psalm 32:2-3)

We must realize that whatever is not identified cannot be healed. When we are honest with ourselves, and with God, then we can experience His healing touch. Wounds cannot be healed until they are revealed and sins cannot be forgiven until they are confessed. Moses knew the danger of harboring secret sins and not being honest with ourselves as he warned the Israelites:

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23)

Sin always has consequences – even our supposedly small, secret sins. Henry Wadsworth Longellow observed, “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.” Justice maybe slow but it will surely come.

We must bring the searchlight of Scripture into our lives to reveal those areas that must be changed. God can keep you from sin, but you must realize that your sin will keep you from God. That’s one of Satan’s strategies, to make you think you can’t come to God unless you clean up your act. The truth is we’re unable to clean up our act on our own. Come to Jesus just as you are and He’ll do for you that which you’ve been unable to do.

For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

Our hidden sins result in feelings of guilt, shame, and regret. Don’t fear God’s rejection – He already knows! God loves you as you are, but He loves too much to leave you as you are. You must realize that sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Don’t allow the enemy to keep you in bondage. May you experience the freedom of a clean heart.

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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