What areas of your life are you hiding? Are you afraid to let God deal with the weaknesses and sin in your life? Have you been a believer for a long time but still see how certain parts of your life are displeasing to God?
I'm not speaking of areas of life where you are self-condemned. False guilt is a huge issue for many of us. And sometimes we are too scrupulous about relatively unimportant matters. But are there areas of my life where I battle against any scrutiny? Are there things I hide? Are there things that, when they are addressed, make me retreat into my self-made fortress? In what areas of my life am I just stubbornly unwilling to change?
Here's a thought that might help: There is evidence, in scripture and in the stories of Christians in every day life today, that those areas that are not yet under the control of the Holy Spirit are places where God desires to build a testimony in us. In the Bible, God dealt with the weaknesses and sin-infested parts of many people's lives. Once they were dealt with, by mercy and/or judgment, the stories of those men and women became testimonies, that is, we can hear or read those stories now and see, in retrospect, how God was at work, completing His work in their lives, leading them and preparing them for the next spiritual battle, oftentimes making them ready for greater responsibilities.
As I consider those areas of my life that continue to cause me trouble, when I realize I am resisting God's intervention in those areas, can the thought of that future testimony be a way that I can lower my defenses and allow God to take over that place that I'm still guarding with my sinful nature? Will the promise that he will be making those areas shine especially bright give me reason to open the gates of those areas of my life to let God in? Will you?
A helpful way to open the gates to the Lord is to ask someone to pray for you about the area you suspect God may want to deal with. Don't do this all alone.
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For a bit more on this see Spiritual Gates.
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