Week
5 Trust and Know
Day 35
Sin’s
Despair
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which
clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
Hebrews 12:1
This
is a most important exhortation; for while a man's darling sin, be it what it
will, remains unsubdued, it will hinder him from running the Christian race, as
it takes from him every motive for running, and gives power to every
discouragement.[i]
Matthew Henry on
Hebrews 12:1
~~~
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I
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f we are to be God’s
heart and hands in this world, the extra baggage we carry needs to be that of
other hurting souls, and not our own.
Sin creates a heavy burden and it is repulsive. Thus when other people
observe our transgressions we become vulnerable to their heartbreaking
responses of disgust, and even if visible sins are overlooked, just the fear of eliciting the judgment of others
is devastating. Overweight is a visible outcome of a private sin, and so its
excess baggage may include, depending on one’s personality, self-imposed
seclusion or jaw-jutting belligerence, reclusive silence or loud self-defense.
Sin begets sin.
Much of the time, sins of other people plant the seeds that the enemy
fans to flame of self-owned wrongdoing. A father shocks his seven-year-old
daughter’s heart by telling her she is chubby. She hadn’t until that time known
there was anything she might do that could cause her daddy to reject her, but
now a dark specter of fear enters her heart. If she becomes fat, he will not
love her. And so she tests his love and eats and eats and eats some more,
because she wants desperately to know that his love for her is unconditional
after all. Resentment spices the fear so that she is bound to a course she did
not choose; food becomes her chosen rebellion either through eating disorders
or overweight.
Perhaps a coach, teacher, peer, or some other human being planted the
seeds that have blossomed into the sin of gluttony; perhaps health crises,
physical or emotional abuse, or a sense of being entrapped in a life we did not
choose fueled the fire of sin in our lives. Most puzzling of all, God Himself
may seem to block our way when we attempt to break free of sin’s ill effects;
we have learned that when He blocks us that it is because He will not allow us
to put on a veneer of righteousness over the sin we hide in our hearts.
Bitterness, resentment, anger, and rebellion may hide beneath the façade of
toned bodies and noncommittal smiles, and God does not allow His children this
sort of deceit. What you’re after is
truth from the inside out…(Psalm 51:MSG).
How do we escape? What is stronger than sin, more potent than the need
for self-comfort, and more real than the temptation to bypass short-term pain
relief in favor of future fulfillment? How may we hold to Holy promises when we
can scarcely remember our former, anticipatory joy? Railing out at God is never
a good idea, because once we shout accusations at the Creator of the Universe,
sick fear besets; have we trampled our own hope beneath our sin sickened
feet?
The answer is very simple, so straightforward that it is easy to miss the
life-changing power behind it: Jesus loves us just as we are. He doesn’t have a
list of things we must do before we can be acceptable to Him. He loves us and
invites us to love Him in return. It is in loving our Lord and being loved by
Him that we find hope of healing from the despair of sin.
When depression and grief overwhelm, think about His love. Trust in His
transforming power. Know that He is God, and find comfort in Him. He says: Rest, Child, rest in Me. You’ve done nothing
that can adulterate the promises I have given. You have not lost your salvation
or failed in any way I cannot repair. Look to My love and take heart! You are
beloved of the Lord. Find your healing in My arms.
Pray: Lord forgive me for giving way to despair when You are my hope.
Forgive me for crying out in anger over how I’ve been hurt rather than coming
to You for healing. I pray with the Psalmist, “Do not cast me from Your
presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your
salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me” (Psalm 51:11-12 NIV).
In Jesus Name I pray, amen.
~~~
For one will scarcely
die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even
to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-8
For
as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so
great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him…
Psalm 103:11
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