Learning to Take Off Our Masks

Masks copy

Finishing What Was Started

A few weeks ago I decided to finish this painting that I had started about ten years previously but had left unfinished in the garage. I was off doing other things and every time I thought about getting out the paints, it just seemed like it would take too much time. When I finally sat down it was the long 4th of July weekend and my social calendar wasn’t very full. I decided to not put off the task any longer. The funny thing was, it hadn’t taken too much time to finish. There was really only a refining of the details. The completion date was on a Saturday and I forced myself not to go into an overly critical mode when working on the painting or even try to make it perfect.

Revelation

The next Sunday at church the sermon was about how we often put on masks and don’t really show our true selves. My mind went directly to the painting I had just finished. It was about the same thing. I had started the painting from a sketch I did while in a meditation group. I hadn’t been following Jesus at the time but I was getting very vivid pictures in my head and this was an image I held while in the group. After the meeting I went directly to my sketch pad to recreate the scene. Somehow I knew it was important.

At one point after I was saved, I had asked God what the painting was about. He had given me the verse,

Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. 1 thessalonians 3:10

Other People

That verse reminded me of all the people who had said after I turned to Christ that they had been praying for me.  All that time I was running away from Him and He had still been seeking out other people to help get me back on the right path. I was wearing a false mask.  That’s what the painting was about.

Now, sometimes when I see other people wearing their fake masks I do my best to remember where I had once been and how they too have the opportunity to take off their false identity and become who they were meant to be. For me, I’m hearing that I am an artist. In the past I’ve been afraid to express that but God gives us so many gifts like courage and strength. I wonder if you were to take off your mask, what you might discover underneath. It’s never too late to reach your destiny.

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  • Sarah Donegan Aug 10, 2014 Link

    That gives me so much hope that the people I am praying for will stop running away from Jesus and will instead cling to Him. What great days those will be!

    • Janene Roberts Aug 10, 2014 Link

      Thanks Sarah, interesting, too, as today I just received a hint that my prayers for someone I stopped praying for may have had more of an impact than I thought! Yeah.