Have you ever been caught in a sin that you knew was sin? Had you previously heard God's voice calling you to lay down that particular sin, but you didn't. Your sin found you out, didn't it? Our choice is to listen and to obey all God commands or suffer the consequences of our sin being 'found out.'
(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's book, Spiritual Healing: The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)
"Remembering our previous Points #1 and #2, that God wants our complete and full compliance to His words and commands, and that we must be fully armed in order to dispossess the gods of our hearts, let's move on now to the last point.
Point #3: Your sin will find you out, eventually.
Read Numbers 32. It is there that we will see our third point made with several exclamation points! In this chapter, Israel was preparing to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. But the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh wanted to make their home on the east side of the Jordan. These tribes were compared to the ten spies who saw the fruitfulness of the land when Israel came out of bondage but were afraid of the people and the fortified cities found there. These two and a half tribes were not seen as being like Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who trusted God and tried to convince all of Israel that they should 'take possession of the land and overcome it.' Instead, they were seen as men who were shirking their God-given responsibilities to take full vengeance on the people of the Promised Land and completely dispossess them. The appeared to be trying to dodge the bullet, no pun intended!
By the wise counsel of Moses, their leader, and Eleazar, their priest, these men and their families were given permission to remain on the east side of the Jordan, but not before they fulfilled the commandment of God with their fellow tribesmen (the other nine and a half tribes). They would first have to help their brothers drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land before settling their families on the east side of the Jordan. When all the people were dispossessed, only then could the two and a half tribes cross back over to the east side of the the Jordan and live there.
Here is the place in the story where we see our third point clearly. Look at verses 20-23 below to see exactly what Moses said to them:
...If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, and all of your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies out from before Him, and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the Lord and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the Lord. BUT IF YOU WILL NOT DO SO, BEHOLD, YOU HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD, AND BE SURE, YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.
My children always hated it when I told them the manner in which I would often pray about them. They knew that their father and I could not possibly be aware of every little thing they did. I knew that, too! So I prayed frequently that God would always show me the things that were being kept hidden from me. Many times I became aware of what I could not have possibly known on my own. Needless to say, my children's sins often found them out!
God knows everything, like I wanted to know with my children. However He doesn't need to have anything revealed to Him. And He won't allow the sins in our hearts to go on forever. Eventually, they will find us out. And from experience, I know that it is far better for me to deal with them as God brings them to my mind than to have them find me out in severe and embarrassing situations."
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