HIDING FROM GOD BY HIDING FROM OTHERS -- Devotional for September 6, from "Good Seeds"

Confess your sins to one another. (James 5:16)

Members of the early church were intimately involved in one another’s lives. Whenever one became sick, he would “call for the elders” (14). These days we’ve become so secular, dealing with our symptoms and seeking a cure at the hands of the medical profession. But in those days people practiced their profession of faith by seeing the relationship between everything in their lives and the Lord of their lives. When they suffered, they prayed (13), as we do – but they also were quick to turn to their church friends for aid, which we so often fail to do. And help quickly came, for unlike many church leaders today, those early elders made house calls! Oh, some still do, but what is the substance of their visit? Friendly small talk? That’s always nice, of course, but those elders didn’t leave until they took care of business! Doctors weren’t as knowledgeable or plentiful then as they are now, so elders sometimes filled that role by providing whatever medical help they could. They anointed the sick one with oil, as a gesture of merciful and practical care, but their specialty was not the application of medicine but “the prayer of faith” (15): a prayer that admits human lack while claiming divine supply. But verse 16 brings in another dimension: the prayer for the hurting church member is not offered apart from his confession of sin – and not just to God, but also to man. It is when such a confession is made that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much,” including the healing of physical maladies. There seems to be a principle couched in this injunction toward confession: It is God’s prerogative whether or not to heal us, but it is our prerogative to remove the roadblocks to that healing. Picture it: Mr. Church Member is injured or gets sick; he sends word to the elders of his church to please come, and hurry! When they arrive he begs them, “Please, I’m really hurting; would you pray for me, that I may be healed?” They respond, “Yes, that’s why we’re here. But first, let’s talk: where does it hurt? Maybe we could apply a soothing balm to your wound, or lay hands on the place that's troubling you (they weren’t chiropractors, but there’s healing in the human touch); or do you need “a little wine for your stomach”? (remembering Timothy’s persistent ailment). But then, tell us, what else is going on in your life? Is God trying to tell you something through this illness? Are you hiding some dark secret from Him (as if you could!), by hiding it from us? We don’t need to hear it as much as you need to tell it! God will do His part, but we would not presume to ask Him to heal you if that healing of your body represented His forgiveness of your soul, and yet you hadn’t admitted that sin or asked for that forgiveness. Confessing to man is coming out from hiding from God!