Walk Our Talk
Joel 2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
In the sermon this Sunday, Stephanie spoke on confession and repentance. Focusing on the second chapter of the book by the prophet Joel, she used a passage often used for Ash Wednesday services. Ash Wednesday begins the 40 day season of Lent, which is a season of repentance in preparation for Easter, so the overarching theme of the passage from Joel is repenting, turning our hearts and even our bodies to a merciful God with fasting, weeping & mourning.
The book of Joel is written during a very destructive and devastating time for the people of Israel, caught in a severe drought that was caused by the ravages to crops from swarms of locusts. For an agricultural society this pestilence was a death warrant.
We all have times of living in the desert and drought of unconfessed sin. Habitual and secret sin can separate us from God, especially when the enemy enters into the equation and traps us into believing that bringing the sin into light by acknowledgement and confession would destroy our world, violate the trust of those we love most and devastate our lives with irreparable damage.
In the book of James it says that when sin is allowed to grow it gives birth to death. At the conclusion of the service, an invitation was given for anyone trapped in secret sin to seize the opportunity to be free from the bondage and death of sin. There is a path to freedom and life. It is through confession and repentance.
During the sermon when Stephanie was talking about how to receive devastating confessions from those we love that can rock our world with defining moments of shock and grief, that was an experience I somewhat understand. Although my experience was not a direct confession, but the revelation of a secret accidentally discovered, the effects of that moment were life-altering and shattering, not just for me, but for an entire extended family. Even our younger children who did not directly suffer abuse felt its effects. It left us reeling and with a choice.
We could walk forward in bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, which would ultimately bring more death, as would most certainly slowly consume and smother our spirit or we could begin to “walk our talk” as Christians and lovers of God. Len and I, we chose the path of life - knowing that hate and unforgiveness is like, “drinking a poison and expecting the other person to die.”
Choosing, saying and even writing those words is much easier than actually walking it out. It is a continual choice, as new moments resurface to challenge and attempt to taint your resolve, especially as you watch a child struggle with the after effects of abuse. This haunting experience at the hands of a relative, violated their innocence, shattered their trust and destroyed their sense of security and safety. We never knew; we never even suspected.
Why do I share this? What does this have to do with repenting and returning to God? I have long ago forgiven that young man and I still pray for him. Has he repented? I do not know as he disappeared from our lives after the secret was exposed. What I do know is that God’s merciful heart and grace can and does extend into our human hearts when we allow him to guide us on the path of mercy, grace and forgiveness. Do I have the capacity within me as a mother to forgive the sinful acts committed against an innocent child? No, I do not, but the Spirit of God within me, does have that grace.
While I know this is a heavy topic; I feel compelled to share this witness to encourage anyone who is trapped in sin to have the courage to step into freedom. God’s merciful love and forgiveness awaits you. There is nothing so dark that the light of Christ cannot wash it clean.
As a person who has faced the ravages of another person’s sin, and symbolically stood like the Israelites in the aftermath of the locust drought, it is in the turning of your body, mind, heart and spirit to God, that you find a God with open arms. He is gracious, merciful and full of kindness. He fills you with those attributes so that you can be His heart for others.
Because our relative never had the courage to walk through the process, he has missed the grace and forgiveness that we have for him. If you identify in any way with the message here today, my prayer is that you neither miss the opportunity to give or receive grace even for the most unthinkable sin. Because of God’s love, we can transcend it all.
-Kay
Kay Suzelis and her husband Len live in Lake Milton, and Kay serves as the Intermediate School Principal for the LaBrae Local School District.
