Confession to Progression

James 5:16 (KJV) says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Other translations of this verse says to confess your sins to one another. Whatever translation you use, the key is that there is a freedom that comes from confession. That being said, the opposite would be true then. There is a bondage that comes when we chose to bottle up things and “go at it” alone. I think that completely makes sense. In Genesis, God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone (2:18). It’s not good for man to do life by himself or herself.

One common struggle I deal with is overthinking. I gravitate towards trying to map out all reasons and details till I find a point of satisfaction or wear my mind out in frustration. It only occurs in certain avenues because in many other ways, I truly am impulsive. Focusing on James 5:16, I finally just said what i’ve been chewing on for months to my husband. We’ve been waiting and believing for certain promises to manifest. It seems we’ve been on the same path for years now. Each day I wake up and truly think, “Today is the day! Today is the day my miracle will show up.” I don’t find anything spiritually off in that mindset. Romans 5:3-5 says “ And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Hope is a motivator. Hope is a catalyst. However, what I needed to finally confess is my tendency to be God’s buffer when it turns out today wasn’t the day.

Like I stated I tend to start positive, believing each day is the day our miracle could show up. Yet, when it doesn’t I take on the attitude of stalling for God. I explained to my husband it’s like being at a show and the guest of honor is running late. I have to stall and address the waiting crowd with bad jokes, awkward silence, and weird mannerisms. I have to be God’s buffer because He needs someone to explain why He’s late. This is totally a false truth. God is NEVER late, it’s that He didn’t meet my expectation. Those are two totally different, but related concepts. First, God always keeps His promises. There are many verses that God makes this very clear. Nevertheless when you look at a lot of those verses, God does not give a specific time attached for fulfillment. We infer a time frame because man is bound by time, but God transcends time. He is the creator of time which means He exists outside it. We have been created which means we exist inside of time. I believe this is why it’s so easy for us to unknowingly put God on a time clock.

It is not my place to stall for God. If my miracle doesn’t show up today or in other words, God doesn’t “show” up today, I don’t have to explain why for Him. I can’t express the amount of instantaneous freedom felt to just confess this. To be able to say in this instance to my husband, I’ve been believing something that’s false about God and I know longer want to. Truly confession is freeing. The longer we hold things in, the longer it is till we get victory over it. I don’t say that to mean pick up your phone and just start blurting out all your sins and faults to the first person to answer. I mean to say when the Holy Spirit is tugging on you to confess, do it. He will even show you to who that person should be. The Holy Spirit is our guide and if we truly let Him lead, He will never lead us to the wrong avenue. When I move first with my mind over spirit I have a very high likely hood of messing it up. I’ve learned this the hard way over the last few years. Good Christian friends I’ve told what God was leading me to do or put on my heart didn’t always get the reception I expected. On some occasions, it led to more confusion as they inadvertently made me feel I wasn’t hearing God right. Again, the Holy Spirit will always guide us to the right path and that includes who we share or expose our hearts to.

James 5:16 talks about confessing our sins or faults to one another for our restoration. It is so easy in an era of less face to face interaction to hide our shortcomings behind our computer screens. It is so easy in this digital era to only paint ourselves in the best light. This isn’t what the bible teaches. We have all fallen short of God’s glory. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). We are all on a level playing field in that we are not perfect. We are imperfect people being perfected by a perfect God. Yet this perfect God says that despite our imperfections, to lean on one another because He created us for fellowship. Iron truly does sharpen iron. Maybe there are some things you know are holding you back in God. Maybe you’ve had those head conversations about them. But maybe God wants you to open your mouth and confess them to your brother or sister in Christ. Confession of sin strips the sin of it’s power. It no longer becomes your burden alone to bear. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and let God free you.