40 Days of Lint, Day Twenty-Two: Hidden Faults

The budget was tight when my mom and dad first married, so Mom did what she could to stretch the grocery money. Often, we had macaroni and cheese for dinner. My sisters and I, unaware of her reasons, thought it was a great treat, but Dad didn’t. Years later, when they were doing well financially, Dad finally admitted how much he dislikes pasta. We laugh about it now, but Mom felt bad that he had suffered all those years in silence. But at least his silence was because of love.

It’s much worse to shower your love on someone for years, only to find out as they leave the relationship that they didn’t appreciate your efforts. You kept doing what you’d been doing, not because you didn’t care, but like Mom’s Mac-n-cheese, you never knew you were missing the mark. Honest communication, even if it stings at first, is essential to healthy relationships.

I’m so glad we serve a God who wants to know and communicate with us daily. He tells us in the Bible how to please Him. He’s tender with us, yet completely honest, and that’s what He wants from us. However, sometimes we don’t even know we’re keeping things from Him:

Who can discern their own errors?
   Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
   may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
   innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
   be pleasing in your sight,
   LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:12-14, NIV

If we miss the mark in the ways we’re trying to love Him, God doesn’t let resentment toward us build up. And He doesn’t leave in a huff because of faults we never knew we had. Blind to our imperfections, He gently points them out. Little by little He reveals sins, attitudes, and motives that need to go. I’m so glad He doesn’t show us everything at once! Best of all, He empowers us with His own Spirit to make those changes.

It takes trust to let Him remove those things so deeply hidden, more than that - to invite His penetrating gaze. We can only do that when we’re confident He loves us. He is the perfect Lover of our soul whose desire for us is only good.

Lint Removed: Unintentional Sins

Cleaning Process: Ask God to Reveal Them