Sharing our Addictions, Struggles and Burdens with God and Others

When we share our struggles, we are bringing them into the light. Have you ever been walking around a dark room and stubbed your toe, hit your shin, or knocked something over? When we hide things and face them alone, we are leaving them in the dark, we are leaving our whole lives in the dark. As long as we refuse to come into the light, we will keep stumbling and tripping and not knowing what we're tripping on. As soon as we hit the light switch, we will see clearly everything around us.

Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life. 105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. -Psalm 119:104-105

There are two very important things that God’s word teaches us to do when our sin is burdening and overwhelming us.

1) Confess our sin to God.

2) Confess our sin to someone who is spiritually mature and ask them to pray for us.

Both forms of confession bring our sin into the light, thus loosening its grip over us. Yet, we often do one of these things but not the other. We will confess to God, but not to our brother. When this happens we are much more likely to go and do the same thing again. If we confess to a brother but not God we may still feel awful, stuck, and full of shame because we need Him to wash us clean.

Confessing to God

“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:5-7;9 NIV

When we confess our sins to God He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. He doesn’t only forgive us; He washes us clean. It says if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That means we all have sin, none of us are sinless. Yet, He has cleared our record, thus removing the power behind the accusations against us. To confess means to believe and pronounce what God says about a sin or behavior. In order to do this we must study what God’s word says about a behavior. Doing this will give us incredible insight into how the sin grabs hold of our life, in which ways it harms us, and what God has done to set us free from it.

When we run back to our vices we walk in the darkness and give darkness a stronghold in our lives. The second we hand it over to God though, He forgives us completely, He washes it clean, and He reminds us He is the light that cannot be extinguished. He cannot be tempted by darkness, nor swayed by it. He is greater than everything we are facing, and He is beckoning us to walk with Him. When we confess to God we not only declare we are sorry, but we give Him the chance to remind us He paid for it already, He died to wash us clean, and He doesn’t see us as a screw up. The fact is, our sin is not hindering Him and we don’t have to let it hinder us any longer either.

Confessing to Others

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 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.” - James 5:13-16 says

God doesn’t want us to just pray when we are in trouble. He wants us to sing songs of joy, to share praise reports with each other, and to celebrate what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will yet do. He wants us to trust each other, lean on each other, and open up with each other. He wants us to have faith that He can heal and that He cares deeply about us. When we confess our sins to others, we create a level of accountability by allowing them into our struggle. When we pray for each other in this way, we are trusting together that God is going to help us. Whether it means healing us outright or paving a path towards healing, we shouldn’t go it alone. It is pride, fear, and shame that prevent us from sharing our burdens, sins, and struggles with others. When we move past this by sharing our sins and praying for each other, we bring our sins into the light and they begin to lose their stronghold over us.

God doesn’t want us to pretend like we are perfect. All have sinned, and if we claim we are without sin, we deceive ourselves. We push God, truth, and reality away from us. We live in a lie. God knows our faults, battles, and struggles. He doesn’t want us to pretend like they aren’t there. He wants us to share them with Him. He wants to help us through them and cleanse us from them. To walk in the light doesn’t mean to be perfect, it means to share the darkness with Him. To let Him in. To let others in.

To live in the truth is to live in the reality that all humans are flawed and imperfect, and that God alone can fix, heal, save, remain undefiled, and cleanse those who are defiled. This humbling fact is a constant reminder that we don’t have control over our vices and we can’t control them, but our God does. Light can’t be controlled or even influenced by darkness. The darker things are, the more glorious the light shines. He is the light, in Him there is no darkness. The darkness cannot comprehend Him, it cannot master or even influence Him, the way it masters us. While we are powerless, He is not. He has promised to give us grace, every day, in every difficult moment, He is right next to us, guiding us, lighting our path.

When we share these things, we are bringing them into the light. Have you ever been walking around a dark room and stubbed your toe, hit your shin, or knocked something over? When we hide things and face them alone, we are leaving them in the dark, we are leaving our whole lives in the dark. As long as we refuse to come into the light, we will keep stumbling and tripping and not knowing what we're tripping on. As soon as we hit the light switch we will see clearly everything around us. It’s past time we hit the light switch in our own lives!

Every one of us, no matter how self-righteous we may look or act, is in desperate need of help. We cannot fix ourselves; we can't add lasting purpose to our own lives. We can't fix ourselves or get our act together. And we don't have to. God literally died to help us on this journey, all we have to do is let Him in. There may be other people in your life who are dying to help you as well. Let them! When we open up a few things happen. 1) We don’t have to face our struggles, burdens, and addictions alone any longer. 2) We take our struggles out of the darkness and put them in the light. 3)It becomes possible to forgive others and to be forgiven for things that have burdened us far too long.

Discussion Questions

What addictions, struggles, and burdens have you been tripping over? Do you want to keep stumbling over these things indefinitely and letting them wreak havoc in your life, or do you want to turn on the lights so you can clean up the mess and move forward in life?

What steps are you going to take so that you can move forward?

What things are you hiding in the darkness?

Take some time now to pray to God, bring these burdens before Him. Ask Him for forgiveness. Ask Him to wash you clean, to give you a fresh start, and to help you to move on from these things, to heal from these things, and to not go back to them. Commit to trusting Him and letting Him call the shots in these areas. Ask Him for a battle plan. Know that even as you speak, He is washing these things away!

Plan a time to share them with your partner or sponsor. Ask them to pray for you. What are some things you can do to keep the darkness from getting in again? It will still come at you, but it doesn’t have to grow inside of you anymore!