| Honest to God? |
| by David A. DePra |
| So many of us act religious with God. We don't do it |
| on purpose, mind you. Perhaps we have just learned a |
| pattern and have never realized it. But what a freedom it |
| is to be able to stop telling God what you think He wants to |
| hear, and to simply be honest with Him. |
| This is a great key to freedom: Complete honesty with God. |
| Complete vulnerability with God. It does take faith and a |
| measure of knowing His true character, but the Holy Spirit is |
| faithful to show us how to do this. We can be sure of His |
| helping us be honest because no one wants us to be |
| honest more than God Himself. |
| Tell God everything that bothers you. Be completely open |
| and honest about it. Especially tell Him about all of |
| your doubts about Him; all of your misunderstandings of |
| Him; all of your inability to grasp Him. And then surrender |
| it all to Him -- again and again. |
| Notice something here. Being honest with God is not |
| a matter of justifying our sins and failures. No. We must |
| never do that. We confess to God what we think and feel |
| in an attitude of surrender. In an attitude of wanting to |
| get free. That kind of honesty speaks of true humility. And it |
| is what God wants. He desires Truth in the inward parts. |
| God already knows us far beyond what we will ever know |
| about ourselves. He is surprised by nothing we do, say, or |
| think. In fact, if we find ourselves being shocked by what |
| is in our heart, it is only God showing us what He has always |
| known. Such a exposure may terrify us, even make us think |
| we have backslidden. But it is likely nothing more than a |
| symtom of God working in us, to bring us to a place of |
| depletion and reduction. He is answering our prayers for |
| Truth, and making us into a work of grace. |
| God is always honest with us. He is incapable of being |
| otherwise. When something happens which seems to |
| show God as being less than honest or faithful, we can be |
| sure that it is our lack understanding, or our self-will, which is |
| the problem. Part of being honest with God is telling Him how |
| we feel when things like that happen. |
| Some of us have been afraid of being honest with God. |
| But if we would just sidestep our fear, and launch out in |
| faith, we'd find out that our fear is exactly what God |
| says fear is: A lie. |
| The more honest we are with God, the more we will see |
| how honest He is with us. To coin an old saying, "Those who |
| trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true." And it does take faith |
| to be honest with God. |