Written By Preston Lindsey
When I was about 5 years old my family and I lived in a two-story house that my mom and dad built. My brother Zach and I shared a room on the second floor. Zach is about a year and a half older than me. We were always getting into some sort of trouble together. One day we had done something that made our dad mad. I can't remember right now what we did... There is honestly no telling with us. Anyways! Our dad told us to go clean our room, which is best described as a toy store if kids were allowed to live there for about a week. Zach and I were good at hiding stuff, but not so good at cleaning. After about 20 or so minutes we came downstairs and told dad our room was clean.
Now dad was skeptical (rightfully so) because he knows there was no way we were able to clean our whole room in such a short amount of time. However, to his surprise when he got upstairs the mess was gone. He thought for sure that we had been trying to fool him, (and we were). So, he opened our closet door expecting a flood of toys and who knows what else to come tumbling out in the floor. But to his surprise it was clean. The he wanted to check the dresser, thinking we had gotten smart. Once again all he found was folded clothes. With one last effort to catch or lies he got down on his hands and knees to look under the bed. At last all he found was a few dust bunnies and out pet cat. Feeling unusually impressed by our hard work and dedication he told us good job boys and said we could go play.
Later that day dad needed to go to my grandparents’ house, about 100 yards away. On his way back he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. In the driveway (and on top of his car) he found all the mess that was in our room. Needless to say, Zach and I spend the rest of the day taking everything back in the house and putting it in its proper place. I say all of that to say this.
Sometimes we as Christians feel the need to hide our struggles and our short comings. We feel that it's more important to look like a Christian to the world and sin as long as we do it in private. We forget that God knows our hearts. We feel the need to hide our pain or our fears from God. We forget that we are not called to be perfect, but to live a life that speaks hope to the hopeless, gives a voice to the voiceless, gives comfort to those that need it. But we can't do any of that until we stop trying to hide our dirty mess from the father.
Looking back Zach and I could have easily cleaned our room in a lot less time than it took us to bring all of the stuff back in the house If we would have dealt with the mess sooner we could have spent most of the day playing and having fun. Cleaning our room wasn't going to be easy either way, but by hiding the mess it only made it harder. Don't hide you mess from God. Don't hide from your brothers and sisters is Christ. God is calling you to live a mess free life. Not an easy life, but one that is not constantly filled with confusion and chaos.
Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
Jeremiah 23:24 "Can a man hide himself in hiding places, so I do not see him?" declares the Lord. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the Lord.
Psalm 44:21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
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