Run to The Father

In the past year or two, I’ve had at least three or four situations where a visitor, guest, or worker in our home accidentally damaged something or caused something to malfunction — a faucet, a coffee maker, screens, a blemish on a wall, even the handle to our front door. And instead of coming to my husband or me and simply saying, “I’m sorry. This happened,” they left without saying a word. Once, the handle to our front door was completely broken off and simply left on an entry table for us to find.

I remember thinking, Why in the world wouldn’t someone just tell us?

Today, while reading Isaiah 61, I suddenly knew.

Shame. Embarrassment. Fear. Somewhere along the way, perhaps they had learned that making a mistake meant, I’m in trouble. I’m going to be punished. Before ever giving us the opportunity to respond, they predetermined our response. And in doing so, they erected a wall between themselves and us.

Isn’t that exactly what happened in the Garden? As soon as Adam and Eve gave in to the lie of Satan and their eyes were opened, they ran for cover. They hid. They made themselves smaller. They made fig leaves.

But what if, after sinning, they had trusted the heart of God enough to run toward Him instead of hiding from Him?

There were consequences for what happened in the Garden. But consequences are not always the same thing as punishment.

Shame tells us they are.

Shame says, You are in trouble. Hide.

Shame says, You have disappointed God. Stay away.

Shame says, Something is wrong with you now.

And so we sew fig leaves. We cover. We withdraw. We make ourselves smaller. We hide from the very One whose presence we need most.

Today, take a moment with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to inventory your heart. How many walls have you erected between your heart and the heart of God, your Father? How many fig-leaf outfits have you created and hung in your closet?

His blood still washes away sin.

His blood still replaces fig leaves with a more powerful covering — a covering that cleanses us and protects us.

His blood destroys shame.

His blood restores connection with our Father and connection with one another. It reconciles us to His love.

Confession does not necessarily erase consequences. But consequences are not necessarily punishment. And confession with repentance brings us back into the light, where love can meet us and give us the strength to walk through whatever comes next.

The lies of Satan rob, kill, and destroy.

Truth sets us free.

Truth brings us into greater love.

Truth restores joy.

And the joy of the Lord is our strength.

So today, which direction will you run? Away from the Father, or into His heart — through the torn curtain, through the blood, through the love of Jesus?

Because this is His answer to shame:

“Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.”

—Isaiah 61:7, NASB

You do not have to keep hiding. You do not have to keep sewing fig leaves.

Run to the Father.