Getting Real With God
“Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts…” Psalm 51:6
Those musical theologians The Platters described a tragic human tendency when they sang,
Oh yes, I'm the great pretender
Pretending I'm doing well
My need is such, I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Were the Platters describing you?
It’s bad when we pretend with people. It’s absurd when we pretend with God. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “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 knows when we’re pretending.
Being a pretender starts when we are not honest with ourselves. And when we lie to ourselves we end up believing those lies and there’s nothing more enslaving than believing your own lie. It becomes a roadblock to being honest with God. That’s why God “desires truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6). It seems that God is saying, “Be honest with yourself about yourself—tell yourself the truth.” He knows that when you get honest with yourself you recover the ability to be honest with Him.
People don’t like it when we are phonies and really...neither does God!
The good news is that God is available to help us be real with Him. He reminds us that He is omniscient, that is, He knows everything about us. He is present in the inner sanctuary of our hearts—the place where He calls for us to be truthful. Therefore, why hide something from God, He already knows it all. He knows the good, the bad and the ugly and the amazing thing is He still loves us! What a great combination! The God with whom I give account knows everything about me and still loves me. This makes it easy for me to be real with Him. It disarms me—taking away my fear and my excuses.
There is nothing you could do today that would cause God to love you any more than He already loves you. There is nothing you could do today that would cause Him to love you any less.
Pretending causes deep emotional problems. For even when you suppress the truth and bury it with lies it is still present and the truth conflicts with the lies. This internal conflict causes emotional tension.
Pretending causes relational problems. It’s difficult for anyone to really know you because they never know which “you” they’re talking to; the real you or the false you.
Pretending causes spiritual problems. When you are unwilling to be real with God you make it impossible for Him to be intimate with you because He knows you don’t trust Him, otherwise you’d stop hiding from Him.
Being a double-minded person makes you unstable in all your ways (James 1:6-8).
So, get real with God! Stop hiding those ugly things about yourself and your past. He already knows about them and He’s ready to forgive you, heal you and restore you. Heed the wonderful promise of scripture, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
Pastor Dan