I like crafts. I like feeling creative. I like spending time using paper and glue and glitter. I know some of you reading this just rolled your eyes at the mere mention of glitter. Some people have such an aversion to glitter because it has a tendency to have a mind of its own. But I love how it brings a little something extra, another dimension if you will.
I like makeup. I like spending time making my tired face look fresh. I like the way I can add a little color in the areas that have frankly become a tad dull over the years. I like being able to cover up a blemish and to smooth out the rough places. I even like adding a little glitter from time to time.
I like a clean house. I like when things are in the right place. I feel so much more at peace when there aren't piles of clothes and toys and unsorted mail laying around. I like walking in after a long day and there being a sense of order and calm.
However, over time, if I am honest my crafts have become more replicating something I see on Pinterest then allowing my creativity to flow naturally, my makeup is something I have used to literally mask some of the things I carry around, and my house may look clean when you come over at the agreed upon time but please don't look in my garage or the room with the door closed because all the chaos has just been pushed out of site.
Why do I share this? Because I believe God is working in me to help me peel back the layers of the masks that I have worn for a really long time and the Holy Spirit revealed something to me last night that changed the way I have been looking at myself and some of the lies I have allowed myself to believe. I have long been aware that I wear the mask of performance and perfectionism and I try to be mindful of when I am picking that mask up. It often is my go to in new situations or when I am doing something that is important to me. But wearing that mask is exhausting and I have been putting it on and taking it off for so many years now that its demands have taken a toll on me. Under that mask lied the tired tears that are cried, the sad mask of feeling alone and often overwhelmed. But God revealed to me just last night that this was a lie that the enemy is using to keep me from being vulnerable enough, brave enough, strong enough to be exactly who God created in me to be. The tender and patient Holy Spirit gave me a picture of a sweet face I know so well. It is a face that lights up in my presence. A face that brings me the truth of the feelings she is experiencing. A face that I carry on my phone, hang on my walls and have etched deep in my heart. It was the face of my daughters and the tender words the Holy Spirit whispered to me last night were the true face behind any of the masks I may try to hide behind or pick up in error is the face of God's daughter. I can bring my fears, my joys, my tears, my excitement, my pain, my everything to Him and he loves me.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
My hope in sharing this is that you can begin to unveil your own face. I hope you can ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are trying to hide behind and that you can begin the process of identifying and taking off the masks that you may have been behind for a little while or a long time. Let your face shine. It isn't until we begin to unveil our face that the glory of God can be reflected out for this dark and hurting world. I would love for this blog to become a community of honesty and healing and I would love to pray with you, so if you are so inclined to share some of the masks that God is revealing to you or some of the things that keep you from putting these masks aside I would love for you to comment below.
I like makeup. I like spending time making my tired face look fresh. I like the way I can add a little color in the areas that have frankly become a tad dull over the years. I like being able to cover up a blemish and to smooth out the rough places. I even like adding a little glitter from time to time.
I like a clean house. I like when things are in the right place. I feel so much more at peace when there aren't piles of clothes and toys and unsorted mail laying around. I like walking in after a long day and there being a sense of order and calm.
However, over time, if I am honest my crafts have become more replicating something I see on Pinterest then allowing my creativity to flow naturally, my makeup is something I have used to literally mask some of the things I carry around, and my house may look clean when you come over at the agreed upon time but please don't look in my garage or the room with the door closed because all the chaos has just been pushed out of site.
Why do I share this? Because I believe God is working in me to help me peel back the layers of the masks that I have worn for a really long time and the Holy Spirit revealed something to me last night that changed the way I have been looking at myself and some of the lies I have allowed myself to believe. I have long been aware that I wear the mask of performance and perfectionism and I try to be mindful of when I am picking that mask up. It often is my go to in new situations or when I am doing something that is important to me. But wearing that mask is exhausting and I have been putting it on and taking it off for so many years now that its demands have taken a toll on me. Under that mask lied the tired tears that are cried, the sad mask of feeling alone and often overwhelmed. But God revealed to me just last night that this was a lie that the enemy is using to keep me from being vulnerable enough, brave enough, strong enough to be exactly who God created in me to be. The tender and patient Holy Spirit gave me a picture of a sweet face I know so well. It is a face that lights up in my presence. A face that brings me the truth of the feelings she is experiencing. A face that I carry on my phone, hang on my walls and have etched deep in my heart. It was the face of my daughters and the tender words the Holy Spirit whispered to me last night were the true face behind any of the masks I may try to hide behind or pick up in error is the face of God's daughter. I can bring my fears, my joys, my tears, my excitement, my pain, my everything to Him and he loves me.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
My hope in sharing this is that you can begin to unveil your own face. I hope you can ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are trying to hide behind and that you can begin the process of identifying and taking off the masks that you may have been behind for a little while or a long time. Let your face shine. It isn't until we begin to unveil our face that the glory of God can be reflected out for this dark and hurting world. I would love for this blog to become a community of honesty and healing and I would love to pray with you, so if you are so inclined to share some of the masks that God is revealing to you or some of the things that keep you from putting these masks aside I would love for you to comment below.
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