Confession Imagination

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

 

 

I love the section of Psalm 19 quoted above. It reminds me as we engage in the difficult work of Confession that I don’t want to be ruled by my errors, faults, and sins. Un-confessed errors, faults, and sins directly impact the “words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts.” God is our Rock when we feel fragile, unsure, and scared about entering into the vulnerable space of Confession. And most importantly, God is our redeemer. God sees our errors, faults, and sins and is not looking to punish us but to redeem us. Confession is always a journey of redemption, not rejection.

 

If your images of Confession and/or images of God connected to Confession from Sunday’s devotional are ones of shame, judgment, and rejection—I want to invite you to open up your imagination this week to a different image of Confession. What if we challenged ourselves to see the act of Confession as an image of love, embrace, and redemption? 

 

We fall short every day. Both by things we have done and left undone. So right now in this moment pick one shortcoming from today. Imagine yourself standing before God and holding out to God that error, fault, or sin.  Is it possible to see God taking that shortcoming out of your hand and embracing you with the most overwhelming and forgiving love?

 

Is that a difficult scene to imagine? Why or why not? ​

~ Heidi Johnson