“I don’t want to tell Daddy,” my toddler sobs. It has been twenty seconds since her flagrant act of disobedience, and she is lying on my lap, hand clenched, listening to the garage door open.

My husband enters the house. He sees the “like a ladder, Mommy!” drying rack with bent and broken rods, the little fist trying to hide a scraped palm, and our daughter shrinking into the crook of my arm. He knows immediately what has happened - but gently invites her to tell him. She shakes her head and cries harder, still in hiding. We wait, and she grows more miserable.

I think of the words of Psalm 32. Like David and my daughter, I know too well the misery of unconfessed sin (vv. 3-4). But I hope my daughter will learn, as David taught and I am learning, the “blessedness” of being forgiven (vv. 1-2, 5). Admitting to – and turning from – sin can be so hard, especially when the result has been more than a tiny scrape or broken drying rack. But Jesus’ work in securing our forgiveness was even harder, and the Father is eager for us to begin the journey toward healing and restoration. Why cover up sin and hide, David urges, when God longs to be our “hiding place” and see us “rejoice, and be glad” instead?

My daughter finally confesses her disobedience. We lavish her with forgiveness, and cleanse and bandage the scrape. Her father gently reminds her that obedience is for her good – and my daughter, no longer hiding from him, burrows into his arms.

Are you “in hiding”? Ask God for the courage to come to Him without delay. Have you already experienced His forgiveness? Take time to thank Him and savor that incredible, blessed reality today.