Secrets

Jeremiah 11:20 (NLT)
20 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you make righteous judgments, and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.

There was a plot to kill Jeremiah the prophet. The Lord made it known to Jeremiah. The Lord was on Jeremiah’s side. Yet we see Jeremiah acknowledging the Lord examines the hearts and knows the deepest thought and secrets of man and because of this The Lord can make a righteous judgment.

 

I want to talk about secrets for a moment. The secrets I want to discuss are those we tuck away hoping no one will find out. Psalm 44 says that even while we try to maintain a secret, “God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart.” You see, we try to hide something even from God, but when we do we begin to feel the shame in hiding the secret. Another problem with secrets is they often come with lies. For instance a child takes something in secret and when the mother asks the child about what they took - they may say, “No, I didn’t take it.” Then the secret becomes a greater point of shame because now there is a lie attached.

There is a saying I learned long ago, Honesty heals while secrets kill. You may think you are getting away with something you have done, but when it’s exposed you will pay a greater price on the back end than you would have on the front end. Most often when someone goes in and confesses a sinful action they will usually find grace and mercy. They may still have a consequence, but hopefully not as great as if the secret is exposed.

When a sin is held in secret and then revealed trust is broken. Once trust is broken people can’t tell the difference from the truth or a lie and then everything becomes suspect. Remember the little boy who cried wolf? After a while no one can believe you when they keep finding out secrets you hid.

Secrets can destroy individual’s lives because they are not reaching out for help. For instance an addict may try to hide their problem, but eventually the problem becomes too big. If only they had revealed their secret earlier help could have been given and the problem worked on.

Those who hide secrets of shame are often punishing themselves unfairly. There arepeople who understand problems and have even experienced them first hand. Those people are often ready to reach out and help; but they can’t help as long as the secret remains.

You see Satan wants us to hold secrets so we don’t reach out to God, so we don’t reach out to family, and we don’t reach out to friends. Those secrets drive us into isolation and even make us believe we can repeat those habits and keep them a secret. Usually what is done in darkness is eventually revealed in the light.

Let me just finish by saying, even if your secret are never found out – God still knows. God wants you to release the pain of those secrets and become whole again. God wants you free from your burdens.

Father I pray if anyone is holding a secret in their heart that is causing them pain - I pray you give them the strength to share it with someone they trust. Father I pray in revealing their secrets a burden will be lifted from their shoulders. Father I pray mercy and grace would be extended and that those who hear the secret see that the person is reaching out for help. Father grant them the help they need. God bless those who maintain honesty.

I pray this in the name of Jesus,
Amen