Sin, when left in the dark, is an insidious thing. It festers within us, tainting our minds and our spirits and extinguishing ever so slowly the light within us. Like a wound deprived of the healing open air, sin left covered and hidden deprives the soul of healing and begins a domino effect of oppressing and separating us from our Father. And in our attempts to keep it hidden, we are party to the self destruction that follows.

Anything left in the dark becomes arsenal for the enemy to use. And he wields our unconfessed sin masterfully, striking us down further in shame, regret, fear…we inexplicably create distance between ourselves and that which is holy because the holiness brings light. And the light exposes. We even separate ourselves from other believers, in fear that they may see what is buried down deep. Oftentimes the result becomes a reproduction of its source as we sin to cover our original sin, and then deep into the rabbit hole we go.

As we study through 2 Samuel, we have come to a dark place with David. A place where one decision to give into his lust for a married woman has a profound ripple effect in the lives of so many others. Men will die, a woman will lose her husband, David and his new wife will both lose their child, and adversity and strife will now become part of David’s household. The consequences are heavy and pervasive. If David had made the choice to come to God with his sin of adultery, broken and repentant, so many lives would have been spared. The unimaginable truth is that, even despite all his mounting sin, God was still accessible and forgiveness was still available.

One of satan’s greatest weapons that keeps us from God’s gift of grace is convincing us we are unworthy in the shadow of our sin. Grace is the free and UNMERITED favor of God, and is available to us based on the condition of our heart. We cannot walk in condemnation for what we have done, but God does call us to walk in repentance. One carries shame and buries us deeper into the mire, the other brings freedom and release. The choice to expose our sin to the light, to confess it before God, begins our healing and as we allow the grace of God to wash over us, our sin loses its hold. Forgiven sin is not without consequences, and so we may still bear the scars but healing has dulled the pain that once accompanied those scars. There is a freedom we now experience as we take this weapon from the enemy’s hand and place it in our loving and forgiving Father’s hands, hands that will transform our darkness into a light that points to Him.

1 John 3:20
For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Psalm 32:3-7
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.