Still Water Moments: Besides the Obvious, What Can I Learn from Sin?
Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Let’s think back to when we were children and a parent/caregiver put us on restriction in response to some form of misbehavior. We probably responded to the grounding in one of three ways: 1) we fumed and resented the restriction; 2) made a master plan of how to do it again without getting caught, or 3) reflected on our mistake and thought about how to improve our behavior. When it comes to correction from God, we might as well stick with 3) because 1) is dismissed if we truly believe He loves us and knows what is best for us and 2) is foiled since He sees all and knows all, there is no way to outsmart Him!
Learning from one’s mistakes is a sign of maturity. It takes reflection and introspection to dissect one’s own part in a mistake. It takes further effort to recognize what steps need to be taken not to make the mistake again. Those of us in relationship with the Lord know that we are fortunate that we don’t do these actions alone. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (KJV). Yes, there are consequences to sin but while as children we may have been relegated alone to our rooms as punishment for misbehaving, God promises to always be with us, thus He is with us while enduring the consequences. Furthermore, the fellowship with Him is sweeter and unhindered when we are truly repentant of our sin. It is during these times when we are open to the correction that we experience Him as a healer because He may show us the underlying issue(s) that brought us to this point and the work can begin for Him to help us address it.
Let’s look at an example. Perhaps you struggle with gossip. Let’s say the gossip is mainly about a supervisor that gets on your last nerve. The obvious natural consequence may come in the form of others gossiping about you, given Galatians 6:7 states, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” You repent and sit quietly with God about it. Perhaps He shows you that you engaged in the gossip for a couple of reasons, 1) When speaking with others about the annoying habits of the supervisor, it validated for you that you weren’t irrational in your thoughts of them because others are seeing the same thing you do. This leads to the question of why you needed the validation for your point of view in the first place. Furthermore, God being the God that He is, He’ll show you some things about the supervisor as to why he/she does these things which will most likely foster compassion within you for this person. 2) God also shows you that you enjoy gossip because pointing out the faults in others helps you take your focus off of your own. Now that your eyes are opened to these two issues, God helps you deal with the need for validation outside of Him as well as your perspective of your faults. We improve as we are open to His correction and healing in us and we become testimonies of Him working everything for our good and conforming us more to Christ’s image, (reference Romans 8: 28-30)!
Reflection Question: What issue(s) is God trying to show me as the root of my sin?
