Masks

Masks

“Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation” ~ 2Timothy 2:15

  When we stand before God and Jesus, we stand as we truly are. There is no sin, pain, grace, joy, ect.. They do not know of. There is no hiding from God or Jesus or putting on a mask to cover who we are. They know what is in our hearts and there is no hiding from that truth. 

    We wear many masks in the world. Some are to hide our pain, some are to hide who we are, some are to paint us in a better light, some are to make us be stronger then we really are, and some are just to protect us from pain. It doesn’t always mean it is a bad thing but a reality of this world. It may be the only way you can get through a day. If you are in pain or having a bad day , you may just put on that happy face (mask) so you can get through. That is fine as long as you still deal with it. 

    When it comes to our faith and beliefs we really can not hide behind a mask. There was a time and still in some areas of the world where your faith could have been your death sentence. You would have to worship in secret. We are lucky in the world where we do not have to do it but yet we still hide behind the “secular mask” so we can fit in and do not seem different. What I mean by the “secular mask” is that you do not share your beliefs or faith to people, that you do not speak up when the faith is mocked, that you deny how important God is to you and is in your life, you down play your beliefs, and you let others beliefs be more important then yours. There are many other ways we  can do this as well.  Do you hide behind a “secular mask”? 

    I do fall short, I must say with this. I do share my faith and will speak up for it but I do not fully show how deep it is in me. It guides so much in my life and the direction it is taking again in my life. I present a very hard exterior and with that it hinders my faith at times. There is more of a chance of me putting on a mask so I will not get hurt then be so forth coming in the words I feel in my heart. I am able to do it here in the blog and I think it has also shown to me how deep it really is in me by doing the blog. It has helped me to remove part of a mask and also shown my true self to others and to me. 

    The saying of “ God knows what is truly in your heart” goes both ways for this. First, it says that just because your outward actions speak one of love, in your heart it maybe really for yourself, God knows that. Second, You down play your faith, and yet in your heart you praise Him, God knows that as well. In both cases there are masks being worn and both are not being worn for good. In both we are denying what the truth is and  in so denying God. We can not proclaim the word and not live it nor live it and not proclaim it in our hearts. 

     I know there are areas or masks that I have to work on and rid in my life. It is easier to hide behind a mask then face the world at times, but we have to stand true in our faith and our beliefs or we will suffer the same consequences as the rest of the world. I must say also we may face a harder test because we do know the truth. It is one thing to never know the truth, then know the truth and ignore it. 

      Think about the masks you wear and then ask if they hinder your faith in any way. If they do, then think about praying and asking for the strength to remove them from your life. It is not hiding anything from God but from ourselves and those in the world. If we are not careful we may start to believe what the mask means and only see what is on the surface and not what lies beneath the mask. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and remove the masks so God’s light and grace may shine upon your true face.