Unrepented Sin
Daily Reading: Genesis 32, Psalm 32, Mark 4, Proverbs 1
Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 32
There is a great deal of truth and power in Psalm 32.
When we have unrepented sin in our lives, it can feel exactly like David describes at the very beginning, bones wasting away and strength being sapped.
There can be a general feeling of exhaustion, stress, and angst.
The challenge with unrepented sin is that it doesn’t always come in the most obvious of forms.
There are times in life where we know that we have things that we have not yet turned over to God, and are maybe still engaged in at the moment. Certain sins are just more obvious to us, as well as others.
We stole something. We are abusing drugs or alcohol. We cheated on a significant other or are consuming pornography. We told what seemed like a little white lie at first, but now it is spinning out of control and we are stacking lies on top of lies. The list can go on.
Big, obvious, flagrant sins.
The type that anyone could point out if they knew they were taking place.
However, one of the biggest traps a lot of us fall into is only focusing on the “Big Sins” and feeling like we are doing pretty well if none of these things are present in our lives.
I certainly find myself falling into this trap frequently. At times I will go several months with repenting of any sin to God, because there is no “Big Sin” hanging out there to confess.
This arrogance in itself is an unrepented sin.
Romans 3:23 tells us, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
God doesn’t just care about “the big stuff”.
God wants our entire heart. All of us fall short of this every single day.
At times I struggle with working too much and putting my job on the throne that should be reserved for God. I struggle with fully turning over my financial well being to God and trusting him to always provide. I struggle with caring way too much what people think about me in my work, coaching, and community. I struggle with impatience, anger, and anxiety. I struggle with creating an idol out of our company’s monthly targets, my team’s win and loss record, and in so many other areas of my life. These can masquerade as simply “positive goal setting” but quickly take up more brain space than I devote to my relationship with God and the will he has in my life.
Unrepented Sin.
It is not always “the big stuff” and yet can hold equal real estate in our minds and hearts.
We see the opposite in Psalm 32 as well.
When we live in a constant state of asking God to search our heart, and expose any areas that we have not turned over fully to him, we have reason to rejoice!
God can “be our hiding place…protect us from trouble and surround us with songs of deliverance.”
When I spend time in prayer every day, not as a checklist item, but as authentic time with God, my spirits are lifted and whatever burden I am carrying that day feels so much lighter.
Challenges will still arise, we will still fall back into our human habit patterns, but God is faithful.
When we bring these things to him over and over and over again on a daily basis, we can truly rejoice.
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
What unrepented sin in my life, whether big or small, have I not yet turned over to God?
