AI OVERVIEW: Denial can function as a protective, temporary brake rather than a permanent barrier, helping us endure difficult truth until we are ready to receive it. Through Psalm 39, Job, Peter, and Jonah, the teaching shows the psalmist asking you to look away, Job longing for relief, and Peter crying, 'Go away, Lord, I’m a sinful man,' illustrating honest struggle and the timing of revelation. Procrastination and self-deception—'I’ll deal with it later'—reveal how the mind resists awareness, while Dallas Willard and Kierkegaard describe truth arriving gradually, guarded by love; Jesus’ remark that we cannot bear it now anchors the pace of transformation, the goal being healthier, eventual alignment with reality.
YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION: Is denial always a bad thing? In this reflection on Psalm 39, John Ortberg explores one of the Bible's strangest prayers: "Look away from me." Why would anyone pray that? Drawing on insights from Dallas Willard, Søren Kierkegaard, and Greg Ten Elshof, John explains the surprising...
