“When I kept silent, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up is by the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not hide my iniquities; I said ” I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, ” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. ” Psalm 32:3-5 

The psalmist, thought to be King David, hid his sin from God and found himself in distress.

I learned early in my ministry,  not only hiding sin from God, but hiding pain from God,  can create chaos in one’s life.

Hidden pain erupts elsewhere. We can pretend to be doing well, but pain will reveal itself, often in times and places we regret.  Aside from physical manifestations of hidden pain, we  do  damage  to our relationships.

Pain leaks through in insensitive comments, bursts out in unjustified anger, and too quick judgments of others. It’s concealed in imagined wrongs, and magnifies small misunderstandings. Pain escapes through words  that demean and put down others.

An older person, in one of the first churches I served, was critical of most everything. One day, after some withering comments from her, I asked how her family was, and a watershed of tears poured  out.  Unwilling to share her burden with friends, she carried her pain alone.   Yet,  I knew  she had friends who would have been supportive and compassionate, in the midst of her family trials.

Hurting people,  hurt others, because pain always finds a way to express itself, when we don’t direct our pain in positive ways.

While David’s pain was related to his sin, the confession and the healing it brought him, is similar to the healing that comes to us, when we are willing to share our pain with people who care . . . And wise enough to trust God with all of our hurts.

Trusting that God can love us through our pain, only strengthens our relationship with God, who loves us in the midst of each of our struggles, and personal battles.  For, our God is one who knows our hurts, counts every tear we shed, and yearns to be a comforting presence in our lives.

The psalmist who came to know the  deep and compassionate core of God, writes,   “You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in your bottle and counted each of them.” Psalm 56:8 CEV