God Showed Up In Masks & Super-Heroes #write31days

God showed up today...

Masks and Super-Heroes

Since it's Halloween, I'd like to remind us that we'll probably see a lot of masks today. A lot of children will be out in the streets this evening posing as someone else. They will temporarily lay aside who they really are for a more desirable character and appearance. However, behind every mask lies one thing: the real person.

It doesn't matter how we label ourselves or the life we live. No matter how we dress it up in our efforts to make it presentable, there are dreams and lives which have been shattered by hurt and brokenness. No matter how hard we try to "fake it until we make it", there are real wounds and brokenness which have to be dealt with. The mask has to come off eventually! 

Personal example: I've been trying the "act as if" method and found I totally veered off course of what it originally meant for me. At one time it was a faith statement. I intended to act like God had already answered my prayers. I would have faith and trust that He was working on it even if I didn't see it yet. However, somewhere along the way I twisted it around a bit and started proclaiming to myself, "Act as if nothing is wrong and just keep moving forward!" Looking back, I see I was kind of hiding out behind a mask, hoping God would fix a mess that wasn't going to go away until I took the disguise of being "OK" off and admitted I needed help.

There are many different masks we wear. Ask yourself what mask you're wearing today? Do you need to take a disguise off? I'm not talking about Spider Man or Casper the Ghost here. Nor my grand-loves favorites: Sophia or Ninja Turtles. 

I'm talking about those masks with labels such as "I can do it all", "I have to be perfect", "I have to fix it!" You know, maybe we could put action figure labels on those labels. They might look something like an action figure with 10 heads, Mrs. DO-IT-ALL. Or the perfectly airbrushed and chiseled model with no problems in life, Ms. Perfecto. What about a bionic being with the answer to every problem in life, Mr. Fix-it-ado. How silly, right? Yet, we try to fit into those masks and many others on a regular basis. 

There's only one answer for us: to unveil and place ourselves at the feet of Jesus. It is He who was, and will ever be the only One, that could carry the weight of the world upon His shoulders. It is safe for us to take off our masks, to reveal our true selves because He sees under every facade we erect. He wants to help us crawl bravely out from under the rock which we've buried ourselves. He waits patiently for us to take off our masks and ask for His help. He's waiting. Knocking.

There's no tricks with God. No hidden agenda. He's not hiding out somewhere waiting to ambush us on our darkest nights. He desires to hold us close and give us the best "treats" we can imagine. We don't have to stay bound and hidden behind a mask to receive His best for our lives. In fact, He can't work with our masks. Instead, He accepts us, brokenness, faults, failures, and emptiness. What He longs to do is take all the ugliness and turn it into beauty. Remember the verse? Beauty for ashes.

Let's take off our masks today and allow Him to change us. Be willing to exchange the shame, guilt, fear and doubt for the only thing that should cover our faces - the glory of God. That's what we were made for! 

After all, we really do have Super-Hero names: Children of the Most High, Daughters of the King, the Bride of Christ, the Righteousness of God. Shine bright, my friends!