To Encourage You

Romans 2:16 “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

Luke 8:17 “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

Do you have any secrets?  Not secrets like those about what you plan to get your spouse or child for Christmas, but deep, dark secrets; secrets about your life that no one else knows about and that you would be terrified for anyone to find out.  Maybe there are secrets about some very bad habit or addiction in your life.  Maybe it’s a secret relationship that, if it were to be exposed, would devastate both that other person and you, personally, professionally, or socially.  We hear lots about this type of thing these days in Hollywood, Congress, and in the news media. 

Well, here’s something you should know if you’re not aware of it already, there are NO secrets in God’s eyes about anyone.  And there is coming a time when, if those secrets haven’t already been exposed, they will be exposed in the sight of everyone.  But the most devastating aspect of that exposure will not be facing those people from whom we have hidden our secrets, but facing the God who, with eyes like blazing fire, will see right through us.  His focus is on the inside of a person, i.e., the heart, and not the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).  And it will not only be the secret actions that will be “naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13) – but also the motives behind everything we’ve ever done, for He “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5). 

People really hate hypocrisy, but God hates it more. It is the hypocrisy of the religious leaders that Jesus rebuked more than anything else when He walked on earth, and “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). What He hated 2,000 years ago He hates just as much today – and He will also hate it at that time, in the not too distant future, when each and every one of us faces Him. 

So, do you have any secrets?  While many of us are able to hide some ugly secrets from most of the people in our lives, none of us is equipped to keep any secrets from the omniscient God.  In light of this, maybe it’s time to confess some secrets that need to be confessed and make some life changes that need to be made.  Such actions can be extremely humbling, and take great courage, for we never know the reactions of others in the face of such things.  But humbling ourselves before God always evokes a reaction from Him that is very good, for it is then and only then that “He will lift us up” (James 4:10).  Sure, we may have to go down, way down, before this happens, but believe Him, it is better now than later when we stand before Him, for there will certainly be no way up at that point.