My youngest son just emerged from his bedroom after a long winter night’s sleep. He’s the kind of kid that sleeps and consequently wakes up with stuff. This morning it was a lightsaber, a bear, and one other thing that didn’t belong to him…..a toy that belongs to his older brother.I just happened to be walking past his bedroom door when he opened it to come out. Toting his stuff, he looked up at me, knowing that he had something not belonging to him and feeling kind of “busted”, he simply said, “No…don’t see that.” He was giving my eyes permission to notice everything else he was carrying except that one thing.

We often times live in such a way toward God. There are areas of our lives that are wide open to Him and others, but then there are things that we keep guarded, private. Because for whatever reason these aren’t things we’re entirely comfortable with people seeing. As a pastor, I’m often time privy to many people’s “secrets”. So often I hear, “Pastor, I haven’t told anyone this…”

My first piece of counsel to them is to, before worrying about bringing things into the light of relationships with those close to them, bring it into the light of God’s truth. God isn’t glaring down at us, at that toy tucked under our arm that we’re trying to hide, with a glint of condemnation in His eye. God is gracious, just, merciful, and compassionate. He will relieve us of the effort and pain of holding a poisonous secret in our heart and living a life before Him and others that says, “No…don’t see that.”

I’ve seen secrets utterly destroy the insides of people. It’s an emotional and spiritual cancer that spreads like fire. Until they finally are faced with the choice to extinguish the agony by surrendering to God or emotionally, spiritually, (and even literally) die from the secret disease.I want to live a life of openness. An open book where I am unashamed for you to know about any part of my life. A life of honesty, integrity, and transparency.

Can you think of or find a verse in the Bible that talks about honesty, openness, and the fact that God knows even our deepest secrets? Share them and your thoughts about this in the comment section!