Broken People Acting Whole
People often are afraid to let others know who they really are. As human beings, we often are struggling with many personal problems—family issues, broken relationships, personal failures. Every society has ways of dealing with these problems. Some are helpful, some are found to be not so helpful. People often feel isolated and are overcome with anger and feelings of shame and separation. People can feel trapped, not knowing who to turn to in the time of difficulty and crisis.
We can feel so alone, not knowing a way of escape. People can feel forced to pretend to be someone they are not, and compelled to hide their real feelings. In times of difficulty, people are not sure who can really be trusted. Often, those who have been trusted in the past have disappointed us. A trusted confidant has not kept private the things we shared to unburden our hearts. Our inner conflict and confusion are exposed to others. We feel betrayed. So, we hide and put on a pretend mask and hope for the best. We hope that somehow things will change, and thereby remove our shame and the inner pain. In our hiding, we hide not only from other people, but we hide from God our Maker.
GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO STAY IN HIDING
The Bible says that this hiding began at the very beginning of the world when our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned, and rebelled against God. They ate the fruit from the tree He had forbidden.
Instead of turning immediately to God as Savior and Forgiver, they hid themselves from Him. In the Bible, we read: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid’” (Genesis 3:8-10 NIV).
Sin brought to Adam and Eve a feeling of nakedness. They felt exposed. They ran and hid from God. But God in His grace called out to them, beginning the process of reconciliation. We may not even think about God, but He is there waiting for us to stop hiding. He waits for us to open our lives to Him, and allow Him to touch us and make us whole.
MOVING OUT OF HIDING
We no longer need to hide in shame because of Jesus, the Son of God. God in His grace, sent His Son into the world to live a sinless life and to die upon the cross for our sins. All the sins of the world were placed upon Jesus so that we might be forgiven of our sins. The Bible says that three days later Jesus rose from the dead, and conquered sin and death so that we might receive the free gift of eternal life. We therefore no longer have to hide. God’s free grace comes to us to set us free—free from sin and shame. As we surrender to God’s grace, He changes us and delivers us from all that has us bound. We begin a new life. We can let down our masks, and become the person God intended us to be.
The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). The power of sin is broken in our lives, and His daily grace sets us more and more free to become like the Son of God. Shame is done away with because Jesus took our shame upon the cross. The power of shame was broken when Jesus arose three days later from the dead.
My friend, if you are still bound by sin and shame turn to Jesus. Trust Him to save you and to free you from your sin. Abandon every other hope of Salvation but Jesus himself. Begin to follow Jesus according to God’s Word, the Bible, and become one of His disciples. You will find your real self—who you really are—in following Him.
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