Take Off The Mask

Take Off the Mask

Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Psalm 25:4-5

Have you, like the guilt-ridden Renee, ever struggled with showing who you really are? Well, welcome to the human race.

I remember preparing to speak at a women’s retreat and praying, “Lord, help me to show these women how to remove their masks.” Then, stung by the self-righteousness of that request, I amended my prayer: “No, Lord. Help me to remove my mask.”

God, with his sense of humor, surely said, “Okay!” and I forgot to pack my makeup! The retreat was in the Rocky Mountains, so I couldn’t just run out and buy what I needed. And I wasn’t about to borrow someone else’s makeup.

As I fretted about what to do, I recognized this predicament as the answer to my prayer. So, faceless, I stood before the group and explained my prayer as the reason for their not being able to see my eyes. Then I began to talk about some of the masks we hide behind at one time or another: control, happiness, self-righteousness, and perfectionism.

Later, one of the committee leaders wrote me a note about the effect my presentation had on her:

In an instant I was stripped to the bone, and I was sobbing on the inside as you said, “Let’s take off the masks.” My husband and I have leadership positions within the church, but everything I do has to be “perfect,” or I’m miserable for weeks and miserable to live with. I can’t let people know who I really am since I am afraid they won’t like me. But I don’t think they like me very much now. Your getting up in front of all those women without your makeup really got my attention, especially as I realized I would have pled illness before I would have done that. Now I’m asking God to show me how to take off my mask, but I hope He’s gentler with me than He was with you.

I chuckled at her last sentence and was sorry she hadn’t signed her name. How I would love to know how the Lord answered her prayer! But I do know her freedom and mine began with the realization we don’t have to be “perfect” for the Lord to use us. —SANDRA

Lord, I’d like to think I’m a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. But I know better. Help me to take off my mask and show your reality to the people around me. May they be encouraged and strengthened by my quiet honesty.

Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.

—EMILY BRONTË (1818–1848), ENGLISH WRITER