Do you ever fear that the Lord wants to expose your dirty laundry, your shameful secrets or your closeted habits? Ever feel like He is saying, “Either you expose it or I will.” Or maybe, “Until you get this area together, the blessings I have in store for you will remain under lock and key.” In our minds these are divine ultimatums, and that is the only place they exist, in our minds. Planted there not by the Holy Spirit but by the evil one, also known as the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).
Maybe our fear of humiliation is rooted in verses like “your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23) or in what Nathan said to David after the Bathsheba scandal “You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel” (2 Samuel 12:12). But both of those statements were spoken under Old Covenant conditions. The cross changed everything about the way God not only sees us but also how He deals with us.
In Christ, God’s desire is never to humiliate us but to liberate us. There is not a single recorded episode of Jesus’s earthly ministry where anyone who had an encounter with Jesus felt humiliated. Yes, Jesus always spoke the truth, but He did so in a way that liberated people. He didn’t “call people out” publicly. The woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the disciples arguing over who was the greatest, Thomas who doubted, Zacchaeus up in the tree, Peter who lost faith and began to sink. Jesus was always there with a blanket of acceptance, comfort, or compassion to wrap around their shoulders. Never a shroud of shame. And so it is with each one of us.
Whatever may be our issues or secrets, remember it is always grace (Titus 2:12) – and never fear – that invites us into the light and elevates our standards. So always go to Him with confidence and never shrink from Him in shame.
Leave a Reply