I penned the thought below February 21, 2014 and still find it true to our lives today.  We all have masks we hide behind, willingly put on conforming to the world’s standards, snuffing out the individuals God made us to be.  All to ready to accept sameness and the oppression that comes with it, we find ourselves alone and crave someone to truly know us outside the box of social conformity. Other times we take that step and find ourselves standing alone, rejected by the same people we thought knew us only returning to our boxes and patterns because we believe it safer.

Could it be more often than not, we put on these masks and pretend being someone we aren’t to fit into what we consider normal in our world?  Do we make decisions that are not led by the Holy Spirit and not good for us or in line with who God says we are to please our friends and families? Have we become so inundated by the enemies’ lies we can no longer see truth and giving birth to misconceived notions what reality truly is? And do we so desperately seek to earn the approval of people and their ways that we don’t even know who we are anymore and we get lost in the process or the circumstance?

We were not made to fit into the patterns and ways of this world; we are not a peg to be placed in a round hole. We are made to live and stand out in a crowd, not blend into one. We all were created to do things differently, an added piece to life’s puzzle, not one to be lost in the midst of the pieces.

God calls us to be the square peg that doesn’t fit in the round hole and to stand out among the crowd. God never intended for what is considered normal here to be our normal, sin did that. So live bold and Embrace the craziness God has in store for you, normalcy in the world is overrated!

When does the mask wearing begin? I want to venture on an opinion but it has much truth. When we reach our adolescent years, we venture out into the world observing everything the world does. We learn what is acceptable and what is not (even if it differs to what we believe) by the reactions and harsh judgments towards others. We learn that our gifts, talents, and desires embedded in us frowned upon by those we’ve chosen as friends and even among our families causing us to wear various masks all dependent upon false truths and patterns brought on by the world’s screaming perception.  We become deceived through painful experiences believing we are not good enough to maneuver life as compared to others and quietly lay our passions aside as the world takes over our God-given desire.

What are some of the masks I am speaking of? There are many, the masks of success, striving, people pleasing, beauty, perfection and denial are just a few and some that I have fallen victim to. We don’t understand the masks we wear are actually sin and drown out the truth of who we are in Christ. We have a higher calling and it’s not one of sameness but one of difference! We are not carbon copies but created masterpieces (Eph. 2:10) unique in every way from our personalities to the hair on our heads. When we allow deception and corruption into our thought processes we cannot walk in the fullness of what God designed us for. Why would we want to drown out truth of who we are and what we have in Christ for a lesser role?

We are given life in this world not to adhere to it but to shake it up!  We see Jesus in the New Testament shaking up the established ways of life and presenting something new and different. He never said do as they do and say as they say,  but do as He does and say as He says! We see so many in the New Testament not willing to let go of rituals and the lives they made for themselves because they became comfortable and accepted in dysfunctional roles just as we are today. We are not willing to give up excuses, people pleasing, and even relationships for a greater revelation and instead become complacent doing as the world does because it feels normal to whom we perceive being. But I must ask, at what cost?

Hebrews 12:1-2 (amplified) “Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We were never meant to conform to the world but to Christ! He is the source of our uniqueness our passions and the very things that make us who we truly are. We are to throw off all masks and live life in the fullness of Him. The victory already won, no longer to strive but to thrive in the love, knowledge and presence of our all-knowing Lord!

Who are you behind the mask worn? Are you willing to lay aside the world’s armor and ways and wear a new armor shining bright for the One who created you? Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Everyone born with a shining light, never to blend in, but stand out!  It’s easy to conform to the desire of people but we are not asked to live for them nor ourselves.  Our purpose; living outside the box, shining bright and shaking it up for the One who knows us completely.