God already knows

by Eloise Swallow

I remember as a child misbehaving and then hiding from my parents.

I knew they knew what I’d done, but I hid in my room and shut the door because I didn’t want to admit to it…even though they already knew.

We do the same with God.

We think that if only we can hide from him then maybe, just maybe, the all knowing God of the universe won’t know what we’ve done, or said, or thought, and we won’t have to confess that we’ve messed up.

But of course, God already knows.

We can’t deceive God: if we tell ourselves that we haven’t sinned, then we’re just lying to ourselves, and to God.

"In failing to confess Lord, I would only hide You from myself, not myself from You”.

St Augustine

We hide from God, ashamed of our sin, but God longs for us to come to him, and confess.

The Bible reminds us that shame exists only in the dark; when we bring things into the light, secure in the knowledge that God’s love for us never ceases, we find freedom.

Our secret shames stop eating away at us, stop having power over us, when we confess them to God and so draw closer to him.

So let us confess our sins to the God who already knows everything about us, and who loves us unceasingly.

Write down what you need to confess on a piece of paper, then pray a prayer of confession.

Destroy the paper as a symbol of handing your sin and shame to God, and receiving his forgiveness.

Father,

we confess that we haven't got everything right. We have sinned and done wrong, and we’re sorry. Help us not to hide away in darkness but walk with you in the light.

Amen.