“For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light.”
Mark 4:22
Just like the hole in my ceiling from the ice and snow damage of the winter is obvious to others when they walk in my kitchen, so are the lumps of troubles, sins, and junk we sweep under the carpet of life. Everyone notices it. They walk in, see the imperfection and keep on talking. I think I know what they’re thinking. Something like, “Wow, I wonder if they’ll ever fix that hole in the ceiling (or lumps in the carpet). It seems like they don’t even notice it.” Well, they’d be right. I don’t notice it – it has become a fixture with which I’m comfortable. AND, I don’t want to fix it. The reason I don’t want to fix it is because I know the mess it will make. To fix my ceiling there will be dry wall dust laying on and sitting in every corner, cupboard, and cranny. How do I know that? I’ve been this route probably 4 other times: different homes; same scenario.
The carpet of life, and the troubles, sins, and junk we sweep under it is so much the same. While everyone else can clearly see the lumps and bumps, we continue to move past them like they don’t exist. WHY? We’ve become comfortable with them. We hide them well. It’s easier to leave the lumps there than it is to fix it. If we fix it that means we’ll be stirring up a lot of mess. It will take time to deal with the whole issue and everything and everyone involved before it’s properly back in working order.
Sadly, as we mentor others, we’ve noticed that point when a person we’re working with just wants to be happy in their sin-filled, junky, troubled life. It would take too much to fix it and why would one bother to fix it when they seem to be hiding it and controlling the outward appearance just fine (or so they think!). That’s the kicker, isn’t it? They think they’re hiding it, but most everyone sees it like a third eye on their face.
They’ve learned to manage their addiction, their lying, their adultery, their spending habits and debt, and all their junk by going to church, serving the community, going to work faithfully, etc. as they try to portray the essence of being a stellar Christian. The problem: they are the only ones who see themselves that way. Little by little the façade breaks down: first in their personal life, then with their spouse, then their family, then workers, friends, and the ripple affect continues. But guess what. They don’t care. They don’t want to make the effort to fix the mess.
There is a great danger in continuing to sweep things under the carpet. The danger spots are so obvious one has learned to navigate them. It’s done so well that they hardly know they’re there, but others couldn’t miss them! Just one lift of that carpet and everything is exposed.
God does that to our hearts but he wants us to lift the carpet and ask Him how to deal with it all. He lets us know that He sees and knows everything. We might think we are protecting ourselves and our loved ones by sweeping things under the carpet, but nothing can be hidden from God.
We can either take the step to move forward in making things right or simply stay in our troubles, sin, and junk and say, “I don’t want to fix it.” What we think we hide will then affects everyone around us and the rest of us get to try to fix what someone else refused to.