I talked to a friend the other day about some people we knew who were "in sin." I put that in quotes because we're all "in sin," it's just not as evident. Anywhoo... the people we were discussing, we were trying to figure out what to pray from them and how we could help them get through this stage of life. Somewhere in the conversation, I asked, "I wonder if God doesn't say 'It's okay, but it's okay for now.'" Although acting against God is not okay, it's okay for now. The sin isn't the actual issue. It's the symptom of the brokenness we all experience in some way. We're all have been hurt, and we decide how we're going to handle our emotions from a hurt place. There are truly only two choices, we choose God, or we choose sin. We lie to cover ourselves because we're afraid of the truth. We drink away our pain. We fill our days to ensure we don't have to deal with our "stuff." All of these examples help us cope. I'm beginning to see sin as a coping mechanism for the things we're too afraid to take to God.
It's easier for me to fill my day with meetings and places to go than it is to ask God to heal my broken heart. It's easier for me to call a friend and talk about someone than to pray about the relationship.
When ministering to people, we tend to label them by their symptoms and not the illness. If a doctor or therapist did this, we would never heal fully. We say, you must stop sinning, or you'll go to hell! We rarely say, "Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light."
Sin is the symptom, God is the healer.
God is good y'all!