Are you hiding behind a mask?  No, I don't mean one that some people choose to wear at Halloween or a costume ball.  The mask I am talking about is one that many of us put on to hide who we really are. I know what it is like to wear masks.  I have worn many over my life time.  We hide our past hurts and regrets behind masks hoping people we get close to won't see them and won't make us take them off. The only problem with that is, at some time life forces us to take them off or they fall off when we least expect them too and then the real us is exposed! Some of us have worn so many masks we have masks over masks and for us to remove them all is like peeling an onion.  There is layer after layer that we must remove to get to the core of who we really are. It's a process, it's all part of the journey of reaching Your Full Potential.


I found a wonderful devotional that explains wearing masks:

My oldest daughter and I were driving past the house where we lived until she was eight years old and I asked her, "Do you remember living in that house?" She said she did. So naturally I asked, "What do you remember?" Her reply struck me as odd, yet somehow profound. She said, "I remember my third birthday party in the backyard and you had a clown come and we all cried, because the clown scared us." What scared my daughter and her friends was the fact that they could not tell who was behind the mask.

Many of us grown ups wear masks everyday. Depending on the occasion or circumstance we throw on a mask to fit our need. We have become afraid of letting people see the real us. We are afraid of letting someone see our shortcomings out of the fear that they will not like or love us. At work we may throw on a mask of authority and power in order to seem in control. At home we may throw on a mask of contentment, a mask of everything is okay, out of fear our spouse may not love someone with problems. At church we throw on a mask of self-righteousness and pride, a mask of "I have this God stuff in my life together, so don't ask me how I am doing. I don't need any help; I don't want any fellowship with you people that are down and out. I am okay." Maybe we even have a mask of rationalization that we put on in compromising situations, a mask that shows the boys on the golf course "I am really just like you; this church stuff is just for Sundays."

On and on we go, shuffling our masks on and off from situation to situation, until one day our masks fail us. No matter how good you are at this game, eventually cracks develop from all the wear and tear of changing masks. As the cracks develop people start seeing the real you in-between the cracks. Some may even reach out to help, but that mask of pride, which has now become a prison of pride, will not allow anyone inside. All the masks will become prisons of guilt, resentment, self-centeredness and on and on. The prisons can become solitary confinement, locking out even God. In addition you lose your identity. You lose the core you, the real you.

If you find yourself in a prison built in your mind, built by your actions, built by losing the real you somewhere behind these masks. I urge you to pour your heart out to God and cast the masks upon Him. It's time to find the core you and to let others inside to help you. Let a pastor or Christian friend inside your walls to help you up.

It takes along time to build these prisons out of masks, so remember it will take time to tear them down. But I can guarantee that you will never get out, if you don't start today.

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Father, help us to admit our shortcomings and our imperfections. Thank You for loving us at our worst. In Jesus' name, Amen.

David

Line Up Your Heart

Today's Scripture

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7 NIV).

Today's Word from Joel and Victoria

When the Lord looks at your heart, what does He see? Every one has an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our public life that everyone can see. The inner life is made up of your thoughts, your attitudes and your motives. Only you and God know what’s going on inside. Too many people go around today pretending—acting one way, yet on the inside, they’re thinking something totally different. Their heart and their actions don’t line up. We have to understand that God looks at the inside. We can fool a lot of people, but we can’t fool God. God would rather us be open and honest than for us to go through life pretending or wearing masks. Take inventory of what’s going on inside of you today. Are you at peace? Are you overlooking offenses? Do you believe the best in people? Are your heart and actions lining up? If not, submit your ways to the Lord today and ask Him to give you an undivided heart so that you can be pleasing to Him all the days of your life!

A Prayer for Today

Dear Father, I humbly come before You today and ask that You search the deep places of my heart. Show me if there is any area where I need to line up my heart and actions. Help me to be authentic in You today. In Jesus Name. Amen.