by Kirsten A

Masks

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place. It takes off masks that we fear
we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
~ Zora Neal Thurston

As a young child I was terrified of anyone wearing a mask. My parents tell of my being at Disney and hiding
underneath my mom’s skirts when the characters walked through the park. You can imagine how I felt about
Halloween!

Over the years, I realized that there were actually people behind those costumes and masks. This enabled me to cope
with visible masks that people wear. But, people often put on masks that can’t be seen with the visible eye. (e.g. a
happy face when we are actually depressed and stressed.) Sometimes the masks we put on are for our own protection.  Other times it is to hide something we view as a weakness. Or it might even be that we want to ignore how we really
feel inside by masking it with another feeling. Whatever the reason, we as humans have become master mask wearers.

With my hatred of masks it is ironic that I would don one for many years of my life. My mask of choice was that of
the fun loving “Party Girl.” I hid all my sadness, loneliness, and fear behind a big smile, sarcastic wit, humorous
comments, and laughter. To the world I appeared like the class clown or the life of the party. But inside I was dying
more and more each day. Some days were a struggle to even get out of bed because I was so burdened by the
depression pressing down on me. All I wanted to do was pull the covers back over my head and never come out. I
actually lived like that for awhile…staying in bed fifteen to twenty hours a day. Yet, when I left the house it was like a
switch had been thrown. My fake smile was plastered on. My practiced “natural laugh” was ready at a moments
notice. My sarcastic wit was finely honed. I was transformed into the perfect little happy-go-lucky “Party Girl” the
moment I stepped out of the door of my house.

I think we are inherently aware in our spirit that as children of God we were never meant to wear masks. I know for
me, I came to the point where I just couldn’t don my mask anymore. I knew I needed help. It was through inner
healing at the Healing Ministry and Christian Counseling that I began to pour my pain out to the Lord and received
His healing touch. Jesus showed me how to take off my mask. God knows what’s really in our hearts. Our part is to
be willing to be brutally honest with Him by telling Him about the pain that is twisting our insides. It is only by
expressing the pain to Him that He can begin to heal those areas in our lives. Look at how King David poured out
his anger and pain in the Psalms. He was brutal with his words! But he was also known as a “man after God’s own
heart.”

If you are going through your days donning a mask before facing the world please visit The Glennon House for an
appointment with a trained Prayer Minister. Open the doors to your heart letting the Lord in to heal you. His
greatest desire is for you to stop wearing masks and start being who He created you to be – mask free!

“God hath given you one face, and you make yourself another.”
~ William Shakespeare

by Ruth Owen

READ
Psalm 20:1 In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

2 Corinthians 4:2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.

THINK
As Kirsten points out, wearing a mask for protection against trouble is never a good idea. As hard as she tried to don
a ‘happy-go-lucky” mask to hide her sadness and loneliness, in the end she just became even sadder and moew lonely.
Instead of protecting her, her “Party Girl” mask only made her problems worse.

So if a mask doesn’t work, how do we protect ourselves when we’re in trouble? David tells us the answer in the
Psalms. When he was in trouble (and he was in trouble A LOT), he found protection in the name of the Lord. He cried out, and God kept him safe from harm.

Think about a time when you relied on a mask to keep you safe, rather than relying on the mighty name of the Lord.
Now think about how things might have turned out if you had honestly cried out to God and trusted Him to keep
you safe.

PRAY
Jesus NEVER wore a mask. He came right out and told His disciples, His followers, and even His enemies that “I
am the Way”. But Jesus is also “Your” Way, because He created each us as unique and special individuals. He knows
how you look without your mask, and it delights Him.

When you pray today, try saying out loud that “Jesus is My Way, My Truth and My Life”.

LIVE
How important is living without a mask? Well, Paul makes it clear in his second letter to the Corinthians. “We don’t
try to trick anyone or distort the word of God”. The Message translation says “We refuse to wear masks and play
games”.

Serving Jesus demands honesty above all things. As Christians we are compelled to always speak truthfully, because
we are always speaking for the Lord. In a world full of shadows, we are the people who are charged to shine the light
of truth, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No more masks!

This devotional is taken from The Healing Thoughts Devotional which was published in 2018.

Until next time blessings and healing