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Sometimes I wonder how different my life would be if I were as willing to repent as God is to forgive. I've been known to carry the weight of conviction around with me a lot longer than I should. Most of the time I'm just like Eve, hiding in the garden hoping my sin will never see the light of day.
Shame will do that, make you want to hide. From the very beginning sin has made us want to cover up, and sin has made God want to uncover and cloth us. When sin entered the world our first response was to grab whatever was closest to us to cover it up. For Adam and Eve it was leaves, for us maybe its work, or an unhealthy relationship, or volunteering... it's amazing how many ways we can find to cover our sin. Before Adam and Eve asked for forgiveness God went looking for them. He was ready to forgive before they were ready to repent.
Yes, there were consequences to their sin. But there was also forgiveness. And love. In love God clothed Adam and Eve. There's a big difference between covering and clothing. We cover ourselves to hide our shame. We clothe ourselves to show our dignity. There is embarrassment in covering. There is beauty in clothing.
And still... still I'll hide, covering my sin, averting my eyes, hoping He will never find out what I've done.
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love
for all who ask for your help.
Psalm 86:5
Here's the problem. There's this moment of awkwardness between covering ourselves and being clothed by God. It's a moment of being completely exposed. And I don't know about you, but I don't like being exposed. I also don't like hiding (sigh).
So what's a girl to do? We can keep hiding. Jesus will let us. Or we can come out from behind the bushes and confess the truth that He already knows. We can let Him clothe us in His righteous. We can experience the truth that He is good, and ready to forgive, and so full of unfailing love.
He's waiting. Patiently. Lovingly. Joyfully. Let's ask for His help. Hiding is no way to live. Let's step into the light today.
He's ready. Are you?
