Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

"People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy."¹

Problems. Nobody is immune from committing sins. However, often the problems we see are not the problems that are! For instance, a problem, whether it is emotional, spiritual or physical, is often the symptom of a deeper problem; that is, "the fruit of a deeper root." The root cause may be an unresolved emotional, spiritual or moral problem which can express itself in any one of a number of ways such as the following: relational conflicts, worry, stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, addictions, spiritual dryness, physical sickness, abuse, etc., etc.

Many physical symptoms can be symbolic. For example, ulcers may be caused not so much by what we eat but by what is eating us. Tension headaches can be caused by "jamming up" anger in our head. Aching shoulders may be caused by our feeling that we are burdened by a heavy load. And if I have a pain in the neck, I may be one or have someone in my life whom I feel is a "pain in the neck."

Confession opens the door for recovery: not only from the symptoms but also from the causes.

After David confessed his sin, he said, "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, 'I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone."²

A good example to follow.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, here's the symptom/s (be specific_____________name it/them) in my life. I acknowledge these to you. Please give me the courage to face the cause/s of these and lead me to the help I need to resolve them. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Proverbs 28:13 (NLT).
2. Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT).

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