Day 3
a groaning place. Paul says it this way in Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in pains of childbirth until now.” But it’s tempting to avoid groaning, to keep yourself too busy or too distracted to be able to think about your struggle with sin and the brokenness of the world around you. It’s tempting to try to convince yourself that you are okay and the things around you are not that bad. It’s tempting to numb your heart with the physical pleasures of this fallen world. It’s tempting to put on a happy face when you’re not really happy or happy with how you’re doing. It’s tempting to give nonanswers or evasive answers when someone asks you how you’re doing. It’s tempting to try to convince yourself to feel good about things that are not good. It’s tempting to work at not groaning. So, it takes grace to groan over sin internal and external. It’s counterintuitive to do so. At the point of sinning, sin doesn’t look horrible; it looks attractive. When you’re lusting, you don’t see danger; you see beauty. When you’re gossiping, you don’t think about its destructiveness, because you’re carried away by the buzz of carrying a tale. When you are overeating, you don’t see the sin in what you’re doing, because you are enjoying the pleasure of the sights and tastes of the food. When you’re cheating on your taxes, you don’t think about the danger of a heart that has become com- fortable with thievery, because you’re caught up into thinking about how you will spend the money gained. Part of the deceitfulness of sin is its ability to make what is destructive appear attractive. When you are groaning sin’s destruction, you are groaning because you’ve been blessed with eyes that see clearly, a mind that
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