“…In faithfulness you have afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75 (NIV)

Afflicted in My Conviction

“So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.” Genesis 3:8

The first man and woman had committed the first act of willful disobedience to a direct command of God. Their heavenly Father came down from His throne to have a conversation with his children, and they knew they had to answer for their choice. Their first reaction: hide!

When we are willfully making choices that go against what God has made clear to us in His word we often find ourselves in a cycle of avoidance. Our prayer life gets a bit stale, and our Bible gets dusty. We avoid our Father because we feel something called “guilt”. God chooses to allow us to feel guilt as a divine means of convicting our hearts of sin and drawing us back to fellowship with Him. However, if your guilt leads you to shame, self-condemnation, despair, or hopelessness, then you are experiencing the guilt of the Enemy, who masks God-given guilt for a counterfeit guilt meant to tear down and destroy your soul.

If you are avoiding fellowship with God ask yourself if the guilt you are experiencing is God-given and necessary to convict you of sin that separates you from Him. If you have confessed all known sins and are still experiencing guilt, know that it’s merely a tactic of Satan to draw you into yourself and keep your focus off of the forgiveness God wants you to experience. God given guilt will always lead to repentance and renewed fellowship with Him!