Making A Full Recovery

Making A Full Recovery

2 Sam.12

Let’s call him Pete. That’s not his real name, but this is a true story. Pete’s a married man from right here in TN, well-respected in his community and church. You’d like Pete; he’s a nice, ordinary guy who’d give you the shirt off his back. But Pete has a problem that God wants him to deal with. Listen to him explain in his own words:

I went to Promise Keepers in Indianapolis, knowing God was going to deal with me in an area I had held on to for over a year. It’s tragic to admit, but I had been unfaithful to my wife. Sure enough, God told me to tell her. I was frightened by the thought, yet I knew I had to tell her. When I arrived home… I told my wife. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but God has been faithful. My wife was very hurt and is still going through the process of healing, but she is committed to our marriage. God honored my honesty. I had to be anchored in him to survive the storm that followed, but…I had to confess [my sin], both to God and to my wife.

Did Pete do the right thing? Did God really want Peter to confess his sin to his wife? Why not just tell God and forget about it? Why go through all that pain and work?

It’s human nature to look for the easiest, most painless path to recovery. But the truth is it’s not always easy or painless to fully recover from a fall. You may fall in your living room at home and land on your bottom and after a good laugh, get up and keep going. But if the fall is more serious, the recovery can be more complicated. You may have to get a cast, or wear one of those boots. You may have to stay off your feet for awhile, and keep some extra doctor appointments. This is also true about falling into sin. With some sins you just ask God for forgiveness, get back up, and keep going. But for more serious falls, a full recovery becomes more complicated.

It is these kinds of serious falls I want to talk with you about this morning. I am convinced many of us still limp through life, crippled by guilt because we’ve never truly experienced a full recovery from a fall. You’ve asked God to forgive you, but there is still a lingering sense of guilt, a sense that something is not quite right. Maybe you’re not even sure how to make it right, how to come back to where you once were in your relationship with the Lord.

King David learns this lesson about recovery from sin. He had his own crippling fall- committing adultery, murder, and deceit. The Bible records his dirty deeds in all their ugliness, but the Bible also records his recovery from this fall. I want to look this morning at 3 steps David went through to make a full recovery, and see how those same steps can help you and I make a full recovery when we fall into sin. If you have your Bible, open them to 2 Sam. 12, and let’s learn how to make a full recovery from a fall into sin.

PRAYER

I. CONVICTION (v. 1-13a)

Driving through Texas, a New Yorker collides with a truck and a horse trailer. A few months later he tries to collect damages for his injuries. “How can you claim all these injuries?” asked the insurance company’s lawyer. “According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt.” “Look,” replied the New Yorker. “I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know a Texas Ranger pulls out a gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns and asks me, ‘Are you okay?’”

The first step to making a full recovery from a fall is to admit I am not OK. I’ve heard stories of people who fall and break a bone, but just try to nurse it along without a doctor. Later, they run into all kinds of complications because they didn’t get proper medical treatment. You have to admit something is wrong before you can get it fixed.

King David is living in denial. It’s probably been at least a year since his committed the double crimes of adultery and murder. He’s trying to forget the whole thing, to bury the guilt of what he’s done. He still says his prayers, worships the Lord, and sits on the throne. But God won’t allow David to forget; God gets a conviction from David’s own lips.