Confession and Trading Fears – Proverbs in Practice
Our survey of Proverbs, former procrastinators, comes to an end. It has been a terrific help to me to see that 1) God speaks directly to the issue of procrastination, and 2) that other proverbs prompt us to pay attention to things we might find easy to put off. Often the important is not readily noticeable; Proverbs teach us to be alert.
Our final two…
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
It’s extremely easy – and very natural – to put off confessing our wrongs. Adam and Eve tried to hide and so do we. Blame might be a convenient tool. Or justification or silence. One result of this is that we have to continue to “stay covered.” We become tense about being “uncovered.” Scripture indicates God does not honor this behavior. Come forward, admit wrong, ask forgiveness. Then we can thrive. Confession means we accept responsibility. There’s a freedom of conscience and behavior that follows it. God’s way is good.
This says “confesses and forsakes.” If I confess and continue to do the wrong thing, I’ll not thrive. If I confess lying and keep doing it, others will not trust me. God has so ordered it that honest confession and forsaking leads to mercy from others and growth in us. Nobody wants to go through confessing a wrong again – yet we put ourselves in that position. I got so tired of confessing selfishness which led me to procrastinate. That helped motivate me to change.
I don’t recall the error I made regarding some folks, but I remember knowing I had to “fess up.” I thought there’d be no respect afterward. Actually, they showed more respect after I confessed my wrong. Mercy.
“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Proverbs 29:5
When we put our confidence in man – including ourselves – to keep us safe, we set ourselves up for harm. God is the only reliable safe-keeper. That often involves not leaning on our own understanding.
“Holy Fear” was the theme of a women’s conference I attended. It was a good topic as we women are often prone to fear. We fear confession, not doing the right thing, speaking up or not speaking up, failing to parent well, affecting our children negatively, being released at work, getting seriously ill, growing old, etc. Many times I’ve pondered the entire theme: “Holy Fear – Trading Lesser Fears for the Fear of the Lord.” That reminds me to name what I fear and deliberately say to the Lord, “Here, take this.” Or, “Lord, that thing is nothing compared to you. I choose to fear you instead.” He is worthy.
What lesser fear will you trade for the fear of the Lord?
