Blindsided by Sin! What Now?

My student has been blindsided by a crisis that was caused by someone else’s sin. What now?

Do you remember the first time your world was rocked by someone’s sin being exposed? A deception uncovered, a leader caught in the act, an addiction revealed, faith discarded? What counsel would have helped you to get through that difficult time?

Start with God’s message of value and vulnerability.

GOD TREASURES US

He feels with us.
He experiences our hurt and pain with us and intercedes for us with “groans that words can’t express.” (Romans 8:26)

He wants good - for us.
He embraces us as His children (Romans 8:15) without condemnation. (Romans 8:1)

He works for good - for us. (Romans 8:28)
Unfortunately, many people tend to divorce God’s “working for good” from God’s “groaning with us,” and that commonly feels like condescension instead of comfort. When God’s working and groaning are kept together though, the message is profound.
God is with you,
feeling what you feel,
hurting how you hurt,
groaning like you groan,
and He wants good for you,
and He’s working in THIS thing,
for that good
for you.

EVERYONE IS VULNERABLE

The enemy is a master builder of highways to destruction with ultra-convenient on ramps and increasingly uncomfortable exits. Proverbs 7 explains that truth by using sexuality as an example, but it's just as easy to be seduced into sins like bitterness and unforgiveness that can just as easily “cost you your life."

GOD LOVES THE BROKEN

The good news of Jesus is that God loves and is able to redeem broken people, including us. He wants us to join Him in His redemptive work. That’s tough though, especially when someone has hurt us, and it is easy to justify our reasons to refuse. A man in the Bible had that same problem. (Luke 10:29) Jesus didn’t accept his reasons but told a story that modeled Jesus’ response to the broken and told the man to copy Him. (Luke 10:37)

ONE FINAL THOUGHT
Life is messy, and we’re under no illusion that these brief comments are THE answer that will fix everything. However, the foundational truths that God treasures us, everyone’s vulnerable, and God loves the broken will strengthen the rest of our response as we walk with the students we love through difficult times.

What are your thoughts?

We want you to win,

The YouthHOPE Team