is freeing.
Bringing things to light.
Shining a light on darkness.
Bringing things to the surface.
I remember being underwater in the pool as a child. My friends and I would have “tea parties” where we would exhale all the way in order to plunge ourselves down to the bottom of the pool and then we would sit indian-style or lounge on the pool floor and pretend to drink tea. With our pinkies up, of course. 🙂
The tea parties didn’t last very long because we didn’t have gills. 🙁
hehe
so after about…. well, I was going to write a minute but I think in reality it was only like 10 seconds hahah…
so after about 10 seconds… we would shoot up to the surface and breathe deeply. Ahhhhh oxygen. Satisfying oxygen.
Go ahead, take a deep breath right now.
It’s wonderful, isn’t it? That God gave us O2. Thank God. Though sometimes we feel like we can’t breathe because we need to surface. We’ve spent time on the floor of a deep pool for too long.
That’s what confessing feels like.
I did that earlier today. So freeing. Like I can breathe again.
.
..
…
..
.
If my friends and I didn’t resurface we would have drowned. That is a little dramatic, but it’s true. We can’t breathe under water. We can only hold our breath for so long, and then we would pass out and drown.
I think a similar thing happens when we don’t confess. We drown. We’re meant to confess.
James 5:16 says:
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
The reason James gives for confessing your sins is “so that you may be healed”.
Makes perfect sense if we think of being stuck in our sin as drowning at the bottom of a pool. We gotta surface and breath and live.
When we bring our darkness to the surface, others can be our oxygen. They can breathe life into us with prayer and encouragement and help keep us accountable. Not that they have to even necessarily say or do anything further after the confession. Just knowing that other people know is great accountability. We’re all on this journey together and we all are going to find ourselves underneath the surface at one point or another. I promise you, surfacing is the best decision you will ever make. I know it was for me today. And that was literally a few hours ago.
Fact is, I don’t want to drown. I don’t want to struggle with my breathing. I don’t want to struggle. I don’t want to entertain struggling. If I choose to go to the “tea party” I want to make sure I bring my diving gear.
For the christian, that means the spiritual armor. Read Ephesians 6:10-18 in your bible. Or google it.
Each part of the armor is equally as important. We must protect ourselves in whatever environment we’re in so that we don’t struggle.
The word says that those in Christ are free. And that we are new creations. I am healed. I am restored. I was made new.
So now I must walk in that truth. And if ever I find myself drowning at the bottom of the pool, push off the floor and surface immediately. Breathe in life-giving breath. Confess any sin. Pray and ask for prayer. And be more prepared next time.
That’s all for now.
xxx
<3
LOVE Y’ALL
V