Masks

Today is Halloween! Children are getting excited about candy and what costume they will wear and parents are getting ready to brave the cold as they walk their children around to go trick-or-treating, or maybe the family is going to a harvest party. There are also those who will shut themselves away because a belief that Halloween is not a place for those who love Jesus.

Just a quick side note before we dive into our weekly devotional. This night that some avoid and others embrace will be full of your neighbors coming to your door giving you an opportunity to show a love and compassion that they may not see anywhere else. If we shut our doors and turn off our lights to boycott this evening are we missing an opportunity to show our world a truth that will change their forever?

Whether you choose to participate or not, this evening you will see people walking around with all kinds of masks. I was walking through Savers looking for a costume for my children and my son walks up to me with the craziest mask on. I remember asking myself, “Why in the world would anyone choose to wear a mask like that?” That is when the Lord began asking me questions about my own masks that I wear at times even on days when it is not a Holiday or costume party. There are times that I take my true self and feelings and hide it behind this false wall so people won’t be disappointed in me and in order to fulfill what it seems they are expecting. As I have gotten older, the Lord has challenged me to peel away these masks and for the most part I have learned how to be real in each situation that He has placed me in. Yet, even still there are times I am tempted to hide my feelings and thoughts instead of being honest with those around me. Why do we do this? What is in us that is so scared of being ourselves? Here are a few thoughts that might go through your mind that has kept you fearful of taking of the masks.

• If they only new who I really was!

• Nobody really cares to know the truth anyway!

• It won’t hurt anyone!

• Why disappoint?

• I don’t even like myself- How will they like me?

I am sure there are more thoughts that you can think of as to why you wear the masks that you do or are tempted to. Part of maturity in Christ is being able to take of the masks and stand in a crowded room simply being you. Here are some beginning steps that will help you peel away the false self and introduce to everyone who you really are. It might be scary to take these steps. Be brave and courageous! God did not create you to be hidden away.

1. Start by being honest with God.
This may be the hardest step of the journey, but it is the most important. The Lord already Loves you and has accepted you for who you are. As you wear these masks it breaks His heart because He has created you to be so much more brilliant and amazing than that mask you are wearing. I find that it is through worship that the Lord is able to strengthen and encourage who Kristopher is and who God has made me to be.

2. Then be honest with yourself
Look at what you are doing and how you are acting. Is this really you? Is this who God made you to be? It is always nice to think everyone in church really are as happy as they look on Sunday, but some of the loneliest people are sitting next to you on a Sunday morning. Take some time to dream and ask the Lord to show you how to be real. There maybe some that are reading this that have worn their mask for so long that they would not recognize themselves if the mask was taken off. Trust me! You can only begin growing in your walk with the Lord when you face the real you. Taking off the mask is step #1 in maturity.

3. Find one person that you love and trust and be honest with them
Choose wisely who this might be. If you do not have that type of friend then go to your pastor or a counselor. However, being honest in front of other people will allow you to feel better about yourself. Having integrity always will have a better result than lying. It may be difficult at first, but it will get easier. When I am struggling I go to my wife. She helps remind me that all I have to be is what God has made me to be.

4. Begin living this daily in front of others
There may be some of you who try to say that this is not a problem or it isn’t a temptation for those in the church. Even Peter, who was to be the rock that the church was built upon, dealt with this issue. As Jesus was being beaten, the Bible tells us that Peter was watching from the courtyard and three different people came and asked him if he was a follower of Jesus. Peter at that point pulled his mask on tighter and tighter and emphatically denied Christ. There is a cost to walking in this type of integrity, and yet I believe the cost of keeping our masks on is far greater and much more damaging.

Psalm 139
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

If this scripture is true and I believe it is! There is no reason to hide. Make a decision today to take off the mask and be who God created you to be. Whether you choose to take part in this Holiday or not, today is the day that the Lord has made and I encourage you to rejoice in it.