A Valiant Story!

Psalm 51

When I was in high school my daddy and I shared a car. He was a baker and got home around 2:00 PM so when I got home from school the car was mine! Now, please don’t imagine this was a “shiny” anything. It was a 1962 Plymouth Valiant with a rusted -out backseat floorboard. I think this particular car was designed after the WW II Sherman tank (only uglier) and was one of the reasons Plymouth had financial troubles in the 70’s. But it was ours and I was proud I had anything to drive at all! My destinations were mostly to work and piano lessons but one night I went to a friend’s house for a meeting. When the meeting ended I noticed it had become extremely foggy. I didn’t think much about it until I bumped into a fire-hydrant and dented the passenger-side back fender. I was devastated! What would my daddy think? What method of slow death would he employ? Now, I was a daddy’s girl so that was not a rational thought! Gathering my wits about me, I drove the car into the driveway and did what any Christian girl would do….I prayed healing for the fender!!!

Since Daddy left for work around 2:00 AM, I knew that he wouldn’t notice the dent right away so I had time to figure out what to do in case God had not healed it (which He didn’t!). That afternoon, Daddy greeted me as always and kissed me goodbye as I headed to work. “What was he up to?” “It must be a trap!” were my thoughts. That night I found myself sheepishly walking around avoiding all eye-contact and conversation with my daddy while he was acting as if nothing had happened. This went on for about a week…I became angry, moodier than usual and snapped at Daddy whenever he spoke. This daddy’s girl wanted nothing to do with her daddy and avoided him at any cost!

The tension became unbearable so I finally decided I had to just fess up and get the punishment over-with. I marched into the den where Daddy was watching Wheel of Fortune and just blurted out, “I hit a fire-hydrant and dented the car!” I closed my eyes waiting for what was to come…silence…peeking I saw tears in daddy’s eyes. Then I heard him say, “Cyndi, I knew you had dented the car the day after it happened. I was just waiting for you to tell me so I could tell you it is okay, I love you. All I wanted was for you to trust me.” I hugged him and began to cry, as well. We were blubbering idiots but something wonderful had happened…our relationship was restored.

Yes, confession is good for the soul, but more than that it is good for relationships-- especially with God. The times I have felt God was far away, I realized that I had “dented a fender” somewhere and refused to admit it. I began avoiding being in His presence. I even avoided being with others who knew Him! But when confession happens, relief accompanies it and the relationship is restored…so is “the joy of my salvation.” (Psalm 51)

But confession is more than saying, “forgive me of my many sins.” True confession is admitting specific things like: pride, bad thoughts, bitterness, anger. Many times we only focus on the outward or physical sins and think we are home-free… but God wants our inward sins to be cleansed…that is a part of what it means to be “Pure in Heart.”

How’s your relationship with God? Does He seem far away? Ask yourself if you have “dented” something and think it will just go away? It won’t. Take it from me, just tell Him about it and you will truly understand that He loves you and wants you to trust Him.

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