In any and all situations, we Christians have the grace of
Christ on display for us to see.
I hope that both my family and my local church do not tire
of hearing me repeat this sentiment over and over. It is a truth that we believers must absolutely cling to
when life is rough and it should be a constant praise of thankfulness when
things are going well, but it can also act as a filter through which we view
the world and the events of the day.
When the news broke several days ago that Ashley Madison,
the online adultery-facilitating web site, was hacked and that the personal
information of all of the users was now potentially open to being disclosed to
the public, I did not rejoice. I don’t for one moment condone the activity that
this site facilitates and encourages.
And while it is inevitable that these types of hacks and breaches happen,
my first thoughts were about the husbands and wives, children and parents whose
lives would be tragically effected because of the supposedly secret sins of
those who participated in this service.
And today the first celebrity name popped up: Josh Duggar (link). So again, my thoughts were
initially for his, wife, children, family, church, and friends.
How is this man’s public sin and disgrace evidence of God’s
grace to you and to me? Quite
simply, it is this: God is vindicating His word by showing that all things done
in darkness will be brought to the light, nothing is said in secret that will
not be fully and finally known (Luke 12:2-3). Or, as the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to put it, “…be sure
your sin will find you out.” (Num 32:23)
God’s grace to you is that if you have any thought that you
will avoid having your secret sin exposed, you had better think again. And even if you manage to eek through
this life without being exposed for your lies, your pornography, your
covetousness, your gossip, your anger, or your self-righteousness and pride, in
the very next instant God will expose your and you will be called to
account.
In so many ways, God is displaying His grace to Josh Duggar
today like He did with David thought the mouth of the prophet Nathan. King
David, was called out for his sin and had nowhere to hide and no ability to
deny the reality of severity of his sin. David responded with sorrow and repentance and faithfulness
to God.
God is gracious.
It is up to Josh whether or not he will take advantage of God’s gracious
unveiling of his sin as David did.
His first step of confession and repentance is a good one (link), but time will tell whether or not his repentance is over the pain and hurt
he’s endured or over the sin that he’s committed.
It is up to you and I whether we will see God’s grace in
exposing Josh’s sin publically and take advantage of it so that we can respond with
repentance for our own hidden sins before such a rebuke is necessary for us.
