April 27 When Sin Comes Home to Roost

Psalm 40:12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

David is mourning his sin, one step in repentance and recovery. I do believe both must occur - we must truly repent of our sin, regarding it as a great grief to God and enter into His pain. However, we must not remain there. Remaining in any kind of grief is malignant; it keeps us from going on, from experiencing the rest of the life God has for us. It also prevents us from learning anything through the pain and from helping others, comforting others, with the comfort God means for us to know.

It is important that you understand I am not saying, "Get over it," to those grieving a great loss after a day or a week or a month. When we lose people or even a pet who has played an enormous part in our lives, we cannot just "get over it." Grief is a journey. And though the journey of repentance may have some similarities, there are some significant differences.

You cannot replace a loved one. You are left with memories, and you must find a way to go on without that loved one. Similarly, when you are dealing with sin and repentance, you cannot undo the sin - the offence existed. There are ramifications - an innocence lost, a trust broken, and you must find a way to go on. You cannot forever live in that moment of great grief.

I do believe we are too often in a hurry to get beyond our sin or to help others get beyond their sin. We call it a mistake and ask them if they have asked for forgiveness, or we ourselves ask for forgiveness. But we are too busy or too polite to mourn our sin or to encourage them to mourn their sin - to feel the offence we or they have committed.

I am not sure we can understand or appreciate forgiveness if we do not appreciate the offence, the grief our sin causes God, our Father, who loves us. However, as a loving Father, He does not want us to remain forever in that moment of remorse. He wants us to be motivated by our repentance, to bring glory to Him by getting out of that morass of self-pity - which is often where we go in our grief over sin.

He wants us to put it off, after we have experienced it, and live with joy and purpose. He longs for us to know the delight and peace that comes when we glorify Him, when we show Him that we get it, that we understand His great love for us, and that we want to love Him back.