There is a good, powerful, and loving God pursuing an intimate relationship with you. You were created by Him and for Him, so that you might know Him and serve Him with a purpose. Being honest with God about your feelings, struggles, sin, and questions is His desire. He doesn’t want you to keep hiding and feeling stuck.
The Bible says God wants your broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17) because He is the only one who can heal you and help you overcome your struggle.
God’s Honest Feeling Towards You
God doesn’t want to “fix” your struggle. He wants to heal you from it. Your sin struggle isn’t the problem, though it can feel like it is. You can see the damage it causes in your relationships, job, and health. You’ve tried various ways to break the pattern, break the cycle, and nothing seems to work, so you feel stuck.
The Bible explains why your efforts to break the habit or pattern don’t work…
- “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”—Romans 7:18
Ecclesiastes 3:10 says that God has placed eternity in your heart and made everything beautiful in its time. This is God’s honest feeling toward you.
However, because of the brokenness in the world, we seek many things apart from God to fill our hearts and find purpose. But the Bible says we will never find satisfaction until we live in the purpose for which we were created—to be in an intimate relationship with God.
Have you spent years trying to fill a hole in your heart that only leads to pain?
There is good news. There is hope.
God invites you to come out of hiding and open yourself up to His healing.
Why You Hide from God
Do you find yourself hiding from God like Adam and Eve? Their choice to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden gave sin entry into the world and caused them to feel shame. Romans 5:12 reads, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned.”
Genesis 3 explains why you hide from God—because Adam and Eve hid…
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
—Genesis 3:8-11 (emphasis added)
God’s Invitation to Be Honest with Him
God asked them two questions…
- Where are you?
- Did you eat from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
In other words, God told Adam, I’ve created you for a relationship with Me, and you are hiding in your sin. Be honest with Me—this is why I’m asking these questions. It is an opportunity for us to work together to restore our relationship. Your coverings are insufficient. I invite you to come to me and tell me what you’ve done. I will cover you.
God is good and He loves you even when you struggle in a sin cycle. He wants you to come out hiding from…
- Sin
- Him
- Others
- Yourself
Hiding only traps and isolates you because you are created for a relationship with God and others. Because of the fall, we all have the disease of a rebellious nature that seeks pleasure and desires to rule our own lives. This nature wants to determine good and evil for itself.
For Adam and Eve, there was still a consequence for their sin. But God showed provision and mercy by killing an animal so they could be properly covered.
- “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”—Genesis 3:21
You’ve probably already experienced a number of consequences from your sin, but God wants to provide a way for you to be healed and regenerated. He wants to show you mercy.
So then, as we’ve explored being honest with God, it’s time to honestly ask, “Do I want God’s sovereignty, or do I want God to allow me to keep going in my sin cycle?”.
God is good, not trying to keep you from goodness, but rather protecting you from evil. Once you can see God from this new perspective, you start to see His plan for your healing, freedom, and purpose.
What Does It Mean to Be Honest with God?
God does not expect us to be sinless, but He does invite us to be honest. Being honest with God means…
- You show Him your heart
- You open yourself up to vulnerability
- You talk with Him about the ways you self-protect
- You tell Him about your sin struggle
- You let Him know what you are thinking and feeling
- You admit your weaknesses
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
—2 Corinthians 12:9-10
How to Be Honest with God…
As you come to know the power of being honest with God about your struggle, you also realize…
- Hiding your of sin is expensive–it costs you peace of mind, peace in relationships, and sometimes financial peace.
- You are tired of the cycle. You feel stuck and want to move forward.
- You are experiencing the damage of your sin and pain. You see how your relationships, health (physical, mental, and emotional), and finances are being impacted.
Being Honest with God
Stop hiding.
As mentioned, hiding only traps and isolates you. It creates an environment where the power of sin is bigger than the power of God in your life. But God wants to flip this around for you. He wants you to come out of hiding so He can shed light on the darkness and begin to heal you.
- “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”—Proverbs 28:13
- “O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You.”—Psalm 69:5
- “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.”—Psalm 139:1-2
Be humble.
There comes the point when you want to be healed more than your concern with what people will think. Though this can be a low point from the world’s point of view, it’s actually the place God’s power begins to sweep over you, and you begin to experience the freedom and understanding you’ve been searching for.
- “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”—Proverbs 11:2
- “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…”—1 Peter 5:6
- “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”—Matthew 11:29-30
Reach out.
When you are honest with God, He will likely start to speak to you about reaching out to get the help you need to overcome your sin struggle. This can be scary, but it’s also a moment to trust Him. You aren’t meant to take on this burden alone. You need support.
- “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.”—Proverbs 18:1
- “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”—Galatians 6:1-2
- “For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”—Proverbs 24:6
God knows your struggle. He still pursues you so He can heal you and fulfill the purpose He has for your life.
The day you decide to stop hiding, be humble, and get honest with God, it will change your life. It is the day the Holy Spirit touches your heart in a new way—a way that opens up a path to healing and regeneration. It is a powerful moment because you are taking a step toward God's invitation to begin restoring the broken and hurting places of sin and shame and become confident in who you are in Him.
It is time to know you are not alone, and God wants to heal you. Reach out and take the next step of healing today.
