Dear Friends-
I see you in the corner, trying to hide away from everyone. You put on a mask so no one can see what’s really going on—the pain you’re struggling with.
Somehow you remain convinced that exposing yourself for who you are and what you’ve done, would mean you would be ostracized away from the people you care about most. “How could they accept me after all I’ve done?” you question. The mask just seems easier to put on. It’s comfortable. You’ve learned to live with wearing it. You’ve gotten used to faking it that it no longer even seems fake. After long enough, the mask is just part of who we are, it’s not even a mask.
I’m sure you have valid reasons for hiding. I know I like to believe I do as well. You don’t have the “the dog ate my homework” type of reasons. You’ve lived a life that has run head first into poor decisions, sinful behaviors, and immense loss. No one really understands your situation. They haven’t walked in your shoes. They’ll judge you!
After too long I’m sure you became convinced that this was the entirety of life. Pain. Struggle. Lack of hope. A short glimmer of flickering hope that is quickly snuffed out. The flicker becomes the exception, never the rule. Life is ultimately about managing these negatives so they don’t overwhelm our lives.
Like me, I’m sure you’ve had the lingering thought of, “Isn’t there more to life than this?”
Everything around you says the answer to this question is no, emphatically NO!
But this isn’t the truth. This is a deception that says our circumstances are the defining point of life.
I dare you to look beyond today’s reality.
When people see you, they see the you, you’re trying to be. Not the “you” that you actually are. They see the mask—the person you’ve gotten good at portraying, in order to hide the real you.
But there’s one person you can’t fool: God. He sees through your facade. And the beauty of this is that He loves the you behind the mask. Actually He hates your mask. He would much rather see the real you. The you with nasty scars, and scrapes all over. He sees the you He can create in you, not the bruises and beatings from the past.
Here’s my confession friends. I’ve been the man who wears a mask. The worship leader who put a fake smile on his face while inside he was rotting away. I’ve put on my “Sunday best” when every other hour of my week I brought glory to myself, my body, not God. The problem is this never satisfied. I could never find a mask thick enough so no one could see through it.
And then when I wanted relational affection I realized I had created such a thick bubble around my life, no one was there. I was empty. Alone. Isolated.
God sees you and He loves you. He wants you to set the mask down. He wants you to take that one risk, because He knows He has the power to take that risk and change you. He’ll help you to start living into who He is creating in you, instead of what you’ve been or done before.
Don’t settle for less than this.
Genesis 16:13 “You are the God who sees me.”
