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“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy”
Proverbs 28:13

We all wear masks.
We all have those facades we hide behind.

We tell people we’re doing great, when really, it feels like life is falling apart.
We pretend we have everything together, when really we’re clueless as to what is going on.
We act as if our finances are in order, when really we wonder how we will pay this month’s bills.
We show acceptance and love to those who have hurt us, when really, we’re dying from the pain inside.
We go to church, small group, help with the youth ministry and act as if we are close to God, when really He feels a million miles away.

We don’t like people to see where we’re broken.

We make a mistake, we sin, we step outside God’s plan for our lives and our immediate reaction is to hide.
Cover it up.
Pretend everything is okay.

It’s something we’ve been doing since the Garden.

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, when the disobeyed God and followed their own longings, when their eyes were opened and they saw what they had done, they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

They didn’t want God to see their flaws.
They didn’t want Him knowing their failures.
They didn’t want Him seeing their shame and nakedness.
They didn’t want to hear that they messed up, disappointed God and had consequences to face.

So they hid.

We do the same today.

We don’t want people seeing our weaknesses.
We don’t want others to know where our lives are falling apart.
We’re afraid to share our shame and guilt and sin.

So we hide.
We keep people at an arm’s length.
We cover it up with religious obligations.

And try to work out our weakness on our own.

But covering up our sin doesn’t change it.
Hiding our weakness won’t make it go away.
Pretending we have everything together doesn’t fix our lives.

It’s only when we confess, only when we share, only when we remove our mask, open up about our faults and flaws and brokenness, and let others see what is really going on, that we are able to find hope and healing.

We need others to help overcome our sin.
And it starts by taking off our masks.

And so, my brothers and sisters, as you come up against sin, may you remember that hiding it doesn’t help heal you. May you find a handful of people who you can open up to and share your weaknesses. And may you, as you remove your masks and reveal your brokenness, find healing and hope to change.

How do you try to hide your brokenness?