This past Sunday night I taught #6 of 13 lessons in a teen recovery series called Life Hurts God Heals. Lesson 6 was about confessing and coming clean. Even though I have a solid understanding of the contents of this lesson, the combination of activities touched me deeply, and I felt God's presence with us. I was especially moved by the scriptures used which were some of my favorites when I was struggling with the darkest of my depressive episodes as a teenager: Jeremiah 29:11 (of course this one is my favorite!), Psalm 40:2-3 (wrote a song about this years ago), 1 Peter 5:8, James 4:7, Isaiah 1:18, 1 John 1:9, and 2 Corinthians 5:17.
I like the perspective of some of the people in large group who said that confessing shouldn't happen only when we have hit bottom. I agree. I also like the idea that confessing isn't always about things we have done, but things that have been done to us. The reason I like this idea is that as we confess what has been done to us, it makes it that much easier to be accountable to each other on how we handle our hurts. Coming clean is about everything we are thinking and feeling. When we come clean, there is no way we can climb back into the cave of denial and let issues get swept under the rug.
Finally, the finale of the lesson was turning to the person to our right and saying, "You are not an accident, Your life has purpose and power in Jesus. Coming clean lets us stay focused on our need for help of the power of Jesus through the people he puts in our lives. We can stand together and recognize God's power, and thank him for his faithfulness.
