I Have a Confession
Have you ever listened to people talk? If so, then you realize the majority of what they say is about what’s going on in their life, and how they feel about it. We all do it. It’s a natural process for us to talk about issues we’re working though. But sometimes the more we talk about something the worse it gets.
We think we’re just being honest and truthful, but we spend as much time talking about our reactions and feelings, as we do the facts of a situation. Whatever thoughts we focus on get magnified each time we discuss it with someone, as we replay our anger, a conflict, or our hurt. We are supposed to be honest with what we’re feeling but there is a way to do that without entertaining negative emotions as if they are an honored guest at our dinner table.
It just so happens I have an opportunity to do this right now because of an interaction I had with someone that has left me feeling very hurt. Once again, I find myself at the crossroads of how I feel and what God tells me is true. I take the time to pour out every single emotion and burden I am feeling, and with an act of my will, I release it to God. I will forgive, just as I have been forgiven, and place my trust in Him to work on my behalf. By acknowledging my hurt, but bringing it and all my conclusions to the Lord, I invite Him into the situation and ask Him to heal my heart. My emotions are real, but not more real than what Jesus suffered for my sin. The truth of how I feel is overshadowed by Jesus, The Truth. He has loved me before I even knew Him. He has already done the impossible for me when He brought me into a new life of freedom in Him, and continues to do the miraculous in the midst of my everyday life.
This process of unloading our troubles and emotions could easily be one of the hardest things we are called to do, as we choose to serve and follow Jesus.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
Giving thanks in the Greek means to confess, and the definition of confess is “to speak the same thing, to assent, agree with; to confess, declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being the result of deep conviction of facts; to confess by way of celebrating with praise.”
We are to confess the details of our lives to God, along with every reaction, emotion and conclusion we have. But we aren’t to stop there, we are to continue on to ask God what His truth is and make that our conclusion and our confession.
What is your confession? Are you able to exchange your own reactions and conclusions for what God says about your situation?
