May 2010 Fresh Grounded Thoughts

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately

Behind God's Back

 

How many times have you heard a mom described as having "eyes in the back of her head?"  Often, right?  It's a picturesque way of illustrating that a mom can see what her kids are doing, even when they're doing it behind her back.  But, have you ever thought about God having "eyes in the back of His head?"  Of course, God is Spirit and utterly omniscient, but think of what that picture could represent.  Does God see what is behind Him?  Does He willingly observe that which is behind Him?  What about your sin?  Is it before Him or behind Him?

 

When King David committed adultery and was confronted by the prophet Nathan, he was devastated.  If you read Psalm 51, you sense that his devastation isn't because he was caught, but because he realized the blackness of his act.  "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." (Ps 51:3)

 

David said his sin was ever before him.  That is a statement of true repentance.  It's a recognition that he is frail and in need of God's forgiveness and restoration.  I wonder if David could also be admitting to God that the kind of sin he committed with Bathsheba was the kind of sin that is "ever before him?"  We all have sins that tempt us more than others.  For some, alcohol is a temptation that dogs us; for others, it is no problem at all.  For some, gossip or gluttony is "a sin that is ever before" them; for others, those things are no big deal.  Maybe lust was a real temptation for David, and although he repented of his sin with Bathsheba, he knew his "sin was ever before him."  Whatever his intent, both definitions apply.  To acknowledge a sin in deep repentance or as a true temptation that requires God's grace and power is to keep that sin "ever before" us. 

 

What sin is ever before you? What is that thing in your life that you need to confess and repent of?  What is that thing in your life you need to keep before you in repentance and dependence?   In your mind's eye, see that thing.  Name it.  Tell God what it is and put it before you in honest repentance and dependence.  Now, see in your mind's eye that sin "ever before you" and then see yourself as a Christ Follower. 

 

As you follow God with all your heart, keeping your sin ever before you, your sin will remain behind God's back.  It is not ever before Him where He can muse over it, review it and have scorn for it.  Rather it is out of His view-behind His back. Your sin is lost in the shadow of His forgiveness, covered by the royal train of His mercy and majesty.   Hezekiah wrote, "For you have cast all my sins behind your back." (Isaiah 38:17)

 

So when it comes to your sin, God does not have eyes in the back of His head.  He only has mercy in the depth of His heart.  Figuratively speaking, your sin is behind His back if you keep it ever before you. 

 

"Pardon does not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves.  When we cast our sins behind our back, and take no care to repent of them, God sets them before His face, and is ready to reckon for them; but when we set them before our face in true repentance, as David did when his sin was ever before him, God casts them behind His back."  (Matthew Henry)

Well, that's what's been percolating in me lately!

Comments

[Joan Adams]

Thank you, Jennifer! I so needed this. I dwell on my past: sins, bad decisions, etc. I have confessed them to God, asked forgiveness of those I've wronged, yet satan keeps reminding me of them.

I didn't fully understand that concept...satan is whispering to me and keeping me from believing that I am the forgiven child of God.

I know I have hurt others and I have confessed to them and asked and received their forgiveness. Yet the fact that I hurt people I love and care about haunts me.

I know I am not the person I was. I understand the hurts that I had that caused me to "act out" in selfishness. My own low self-esteem; my desire to be loved; my own feelings of rejection clouded my thinking.

I have been the one beating myself up/not forgiving myself. Thank you for showing me that that too is a sin...the sin of unbelief that Jesus loves me and His blood covers me.

I have allowed satan to make mountains out of mole hills...others have forgiven me or even said that there wasn't anything to forgive.

I have focused on the negatives in my life instead of on the many positives that surround me. Some of this is from the cancer medicine that I take; some is from the "shame and blame" that I was raised with.

As I write this, it's as if God is holding me in His arms and whispering His love for me...calming His hurt child; enabling her to rest in Him.

Thank You,
J. A.