Shh! What Secrets Are You Hiding? By Stephane Singletary
Devotions

Shh! What Secrets Are You Hiding? By Stephane Singletary

When
my daughter got into high school, her
behavior started to change. She became withdrawn and started to rebel against
everything. I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know what.

We
have always had a very open and honest relationship; she came to me about
everything.
She
was keeping secrets from me that began to build a wall between us. No matter
how hard I tried I could not seem to break through or get around it.
One
morning, she told me that she was getting a ride to school because she had to
be there early for some class. In the depths of my being, I knew she lied to
me, but I let her go.
She
walked down the driveway and crawled into the car that was waiting at the end
of the lane.
Unknown
to my daughter, a few months before we had GPS tracking installed on our
children’s phones, just in case we ever needed it. According to Google maps,
she was nowhere near her school.
I
picked up the phone and informed her that she was caught. She came home that
day from school and I told her it was time to come clean.
After
a very long and drawn out argument she finally broke down and asked how I knew
she was keeping secrets from me.
I
told her that no matter what she did, no matter where she went, God, her Father
and my Father, saw for me.
He
was the one that told me to pray for her more and more, to keep trying to reach
her, and to not give up on her. She thought she was keeping all these secrets,
but God saw it all. God sees.

God sees us
all, even the secrets we try to keep hidden.

Secrets
taint our hearts and our lives.

They
build up a wall between man and wife, daughter and mother, son and father,
friend and friend. They separate us because secrets are sins.

Bible Reading: Joshua 7
In
the book of Joshua, we learn about a man named Achan. He was of the tribe of
Judah, and fought alongside his brothers and sisters as they overtook Jericho.
God told them that they were to destroy everything. Nothing was to be left over
and they were not to keep anything for themselves. All of it had to be
destroyed.
But
Achan saw some things he just couldn’t let go off, hid them and thought no one
saw. But God did see, and Achan’s secret affected the entire nation of Israel. 
Joshua, seeing that God was no longer on their side in Chapter 7 falls on his
face and asks “Why?” What has caused this separation between God and His
people.

Achan’s secret separated
the people from God

Achan’s secret brought death
into the camp

His sin brought defeat to
the children of Israel
Secrets
have to be kept hidden. But, as we see, nothing is ever really hidden is it?
We have to lie and steal and dig deeper
pits for our secrets to stay hidden.
You may
hide your secrets from man, but they are never hidden from God.

We
also learn from this account in Joshua that God gave Achan opportunity after
opportunity to confess his secret before the Lord and before the people.
In
verse 14-15 we read that God brought forth his clan, then He brought forth the
households, then man by man God drew Achan out.
Note
this: Achan had every opportunity to
come clean, to confess his secret before all of Israel and God.
But
he kept them hidden in his tent, buried under the dirt. But isn’t that exactly
what we do with our secrets, with our sins? We hold them in our hearts, we
don’t want anyone else to know about them. We bury them and cover them with the
dirt of more sin.
But
no matter how deep we try to bury them, they are not truly hidden because even
through the dirt, our Father sees.
“And there
is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:13
God
called Israel accountable for the sins they were hiding, for the sin Achan was
hiding.
God
wants us to see that secrets hinder us, they destroy us and we are not able to
stand firm against our enemies when secrets have settled in our hearts.

Our sins are never secret and they
affect everyone
.
That secret you kept from your husband has put up a wall between you two and
that intimacy you once shared has been damaged by it.
That
secret you kept from your boss has affected the way you do your job, and you
don’t give your best anymore.

Sin hinders us from giving God our best. He doesn’t tell us to get up and get
away from sin because He is withholding something fun and good from us. He
tells us to get up and get away from sin because it hurts us and it hurts
others.
So
then, how do we, as children of God, turn away from these secrets, these sins
we have buried in the dirt of our tents?
>>How do we begin again to live a
holy and consecrated life before God?<<
We
confess our sins and then we put that sin to death.
We
put our secrets to death.

Read:  Joshua 7:19-21, 25


Achan
confessed his sin before Joshua, before Israel and before God. He laid bare his
transgression and freely confessed the hidden secrets of his heart, and then
death was brought to him and to the things he had kept secret. You may think
this is extreme, but when it comes to dealing with sin in our lives, we must be
extreme.
If
your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is
better for you to enter into life lame and maimed, rather than having two hands
or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you
to sin pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into
life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
Matthew 18:8-9
Until
we get serious about our sins, we will continue to bury them and hide them. But
do not forget that you are not hiding from God.

You
may have everyone else fooled, but you are not fooling God.

 Get serious about your sin and the secrets you
have buried within. Confess them, be free of them and God will teach you how to
walk with Him again. 
Our secrets, our sins are just ammunition for the enemy to
defeat us over and over again. Quit handing him your weapon and stand to fight
again! Amen. 

About the Author
Stephane Singletary gently leads “The Upper Room” Women’s Ministry where writes and teaches women to love Christ. 

You can find her writing regularly on her blog One Woman at A Time, on Facebook and Google+

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  • Wonderful insights. We cannot hide from God and we must always be on guard. Thanks for sharing at Mom-to-Mom Mondays.

  • I am so thankful that God cares so much about our kids that He gives us knowledge of when something isn't quite right. I hope that you were able to repair the relationship with your daughter. What you went through also gives us a tiny glimpse in how God must feel when we rebel. Thanks for linking up with Grace and Truth.

  • Some secrets are now between me and our Lord, and no one else needs to know. In your case, children need shepherding. Your GPS on your daughters phone is a secret she doesn't need to know. Technology of this kind is a blessing to protect our children. Thank you for your beautiful story and also for the story of Aachen as you shared with us here at Tell me a Story.

  • Something we can all relate to, and how blessed your child is to have a parent who loves so deeply to do the hard work of parenting in the difficult times. Something I have consistently prayed over my marriage and family is for God to bring all things into the light. There are times when the answer to this prayer were painful and hard, but the knowledge that there were no more secrets gave us the strength to continue. Thanks for this challenge and encouragement toward living authentically and honestly! Crystal~

  • Stephane, what great truths! Even when we know these things on an intellectual level, we are still prone to try hiding our sin from God and others, aren't we! I'll be thinking about this post today. Blessings!

  • Visiting from Holley Gerth's link-up. I've heard it said, you're as sick as your secrets. Sounds true to me and you give a good example from the Bible, where truth is found.

  • Secrets are so dangerous, as they are such a close sister to "white" lies… they start small and then snowball out of control before we blink. Thanks for sharing this with the Cozy Reading Spot!

    • 8 years ago

    Burying sin in the dirt of our hearts is like inserting a dirty splinter under our skin and leaving it there and hoping no one will notice. I'm glad that nothing is hidden from God's eyes. He looks out for us constantly because of His love for us. He is the doctor who wants to remove the splinter, but when we insist on holding on to that sin, we delude ourselves into thinking He is a spy instead. May we believe His truth and not the lies of the enemy.

  • God does see through every lie we try to tell. All we are left with is a heavy and burdened spirit. One that eventually implodes. Thank you for this lesson from the book of Joshua! And thank you for sharing this hope with us at Moments of Hope!
    Blessings and smiles,
    Lori

    • Thank you Lori for having me! Blessings to you all at Moments of Hope!

  • Nothing is hidden from God. He knows all things and yet is so gentle, loving and forgiving when we confess. Thank you for sharing with the Let Us Grow community.

  • Yes! As someone who grew up hiding the secrets of my family, I can attest to how much damage it leaves behind. Thank you for sharing this powerful post!

  • Everything that's hidden will be revealed in time.
    How's your daughter, my friend? 🙂

    • Thank you Lux- daughter is doing well. Wedding count down in t-12 days! Yikes! Prayers would be appreciated!

  • Thank you for this lesson of trust and hope. Blessings!

  • Oh those were difficult days, weren't they.

    And God was so faithful every step of the way …

  • This is a great post and a wonderful reminder that nothing is hid from God. Thanks, Ifeoma, for linking up with Thankful Thursdays.

  • What an honest and thought provoking post! I am thankful that we are unable to keep anything secret from God. It is a representation of His power! The verse the Bible "truth will set you free" is so true. When you are open and honest with God, you have nothing to fear. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Stephanie and blessings to you and Ifeoma!

    • Thank you for the thoughtful words of encouragement. Blessings to you as well!

  • Beautifully written post. Always encouraging to find others who spur one another on toward love and good deeds and to be more like Christ. 🙂

  • Truth. Even though we don't always see it as such, it's truly a blessing that God DOES see all our secrets. We can know that there's no sense in trying to hide from Him because He sees all. And because He sees all, He can help us through whatever we're going through. Thanks for sharing this Stephane and Ifeoma!

  • He knows all about us. He is a creator of the world. So nothing is hidden from his eyes. Also he knows better that what is best for us.

    Thanks for sharing.

    ~Dr. Diana

  • Nothing is hidden from Him… and so thankful that because of Christ, we receive grace and mercy when we confess the hidden things and lay them at His feet. Grateful to be your neighbour over at #TellHisStory

  • Great post! So true that we can't keep secrets from God. It's reassuring that when we do confess to him his response is always merciful and it is safe to be open with him.

    • Amen Carly, He is always merciful and we can go to Him about anything. Blessings to you sister!

  • Thanks Stephanie and Ifeoma! Powerful message of redemption here. Have you ever participated in Beth Moore's Sacred Secrets Study? It's all about this topic and very helpful. Thanks for giving this example and the Biblical truth!

    • Thank you Bethany for your encouraging words. Never done the Beth Moore study, but glad you enjoyed the article.

    • 8 years ago

    Great teaching, Stephane! Aachen's story is a perfect illustration! Thank you for your words!

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