| Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” |
| —Isaiah 29:15 |
Have you ever watched a young child who did not like peas carefully place them under the far lip of the plate to make it look as if he or she had obediently eaten this dreaded vegetable? Because the child can’t see the hidden peas, he or she firmly believes that no one else can see them either. That’s how some people view the things they do, in the course of their lives, that they know are questionable, even sinful. They believe that if they hide what they do—if they sneak around and perform their deeds in secret, or in the cover of darkness—no one will know what they have done. But, it just doesn’t work that way.
The Prophet Isaiah conveyed these words, as found in Isaiah 29:15:
Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
It doesn’t matter what lengths to which we may go to keep our sins secret. God always knows what we have done. And, in many cases, our sins will be revealed for everyone to see. Please, let me share a personal example:
Reportedly, my birth mother—a thirty-year-old single woman left, like so many young women of that time period, without any prospects of a husband with so many young men off fighting World War II—became involved with an older married man. He was the pastor of her church. She was the church organist.
Naturally, he took great steps to hide their affair. They met in secret, all the while believing that no one would ever know. Perhaps he told her that he was in an unhappy marriage, that he loved her, and that he would divorce his wife and marry her. But, their secret was taken out of their control. You see, my birth mother became pregnant with me.
For nine long months she hid her pregnancy from everyone. She was a obese woman and was able to totally conceal the additional weight of her pregnancy by wearing bulky clothing.
But, on one fateful day in early August of 1947, she called out in pain from her bedroom. Her mother went to check on her and, upon seeing her condition for the first time, quickly summoned the doctor. He arrived promptly, as doctors did in that time period, and delivered me.
I was immrfiately whisked away to a nearby nurse who sheltered babies being placed for adoption. I joined ten other newborns in her home and stayed there for the state-mandated six weeks until the lovely, older couple, who adopted me, came to pick me up.
How do I know this story? The nurse in whose house I stayed for the first six weeks of my life became a dear friend of my adoptive mother. When the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania made a mistake and sent my adoptive mother my real birth certificate with my birth mother’s name on it (but with the space for the birth father’s name left blank), my mother showed it to the nurse.
Several years later, the nurse felt moved to supply the details to my adoptive mother who shared them with me when I turned 18 years old. (I should hasten to add that I always knew I was adopted. In fact, my parents made a really big deal about the fact that they had “chosen” me out of many other babies they could have adopted.)
I share this personal story as just one example of the reality: we cannot hide our sin from God and others. Sin will always become revealed. That’s why we, who follow Christ, should guard ourselves against besetting sins. No matter how hard we try to hide them, they will always step into the light.
Think of all the corruption that our current political climate has revealed. Do you think any of those involved would have ever thought what they had done or said would come to light? In fact, some of them are so cleverly habitual in their bad behavior that they have spent a lifetime honing the skill of concealment. Yet what they have done has stepped out into the light. That’s a lesson for all of us.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, June 6, 2018
