ACHAN - HIDING AND SEEKING

It's too easy to make light of things that are serious, to say, ‘it doesn’t matter,’ ‘it’s not hurting anyone,’ to create excuses for our own behaviour whilst condemning others who do the same as us. There’s no way to dress this up to make it feel better; sin matters, sin costs, sin hurts. 

HIDING?

Over 10 years ago a friend of mine asked me to hold him to account for his area of weakness – internet pornography. He put accountability software on his computer and every week I get a list of every webpage he has looked at. I am sure this has helped him, knowing that someone else knows and is standing with him as he faces the battle, helping him to overcome.

Achan acted alone, in secret, trying to hide what he had done. Don’t do it, it only leads to disaster. Sin cannot remain private, you need to seek help.

God doesn’t want us to fail, to mess up, to sin. He has given us one another to help us overcome and as Carl reminds us, ‘Thankfully, we have the cross!’ Thankfully, we can come to someone who knows our weakness. Thankfully, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Don't try to hide. Don’t be alone. Deal with it before it deals with you. Get close to God and get close to someone who will help. Sort it out before it sorts you out. The fallout is too destructive to let it go on any longer.