reveal your lousy, irrational, selfish motives. They open up
your inner life to God. They let your guard down, especially
when your guard doesn’t want to come down! And as quickly
as you let God in, He immediately shows you why what you’ve
been doing (or holding on to) isn’t going to help your
situation, much less improve your relationships or reputation.
He purposefully exposes the lies you believe. He instills you
with courage to clean up your act. He gives you practical, not
magical, suggestions for resolution and restitution. Then He
expectantly waits for you to respond to His ideas.
In each of my books, I’ve divulged how this section of my
“God Talks” has included my personal confessions—ranging
from angry outbursts toward my son when he was still a
toddler to uncontrolled anger I have exhibited within
professional relationships. Not so pretty. My husband finally
suggested that I should get an “anger sobriety chip,” just like
the chips I’ve received for my thirty-plus years of alcohol
sobriety.
I’ll never forget the day I was on the phone with an airline
agent and my voice kept getting louder and sounding more
frustrated. From the back of the house, I heard my husband call
out to me, asking, “Hey... is somebody losing their ‘chip’ in
there?” I immediately stopped myself. My cheeks turned red,
and I apologized to the airline agent for raising my voice, telling
her I was on the brink of losing my “anger sobriety chip.” She
kindly forgave me and offered to speak to my husband if it
would help me keep my “chip.”
We’ve all seen it. We’ve all been shocked to know someone
whose life and words presented one picture, but it fell
completely apart when some hidden or unconfessed sin was