Out Of The Darkness
by Dawn Okrasinski
Monday— 10/26/20
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” The wizard of Oz bellows as he furiously works cranks and levers to create an illusion of grandeur and mystery for the people before him. He desperately works to manifest something greater than the simple man he is. The magnificent mask rises and creates a veil between what is truth and what is a lie.
We have been wearing masks since the Stone Age. Simple or bold, beautiful or horrific, masks have donned the faces of warriors, priests, shamans, and mystics. They celebrated holidays, rituals, ceremonies and events. Masks can glorify God or show the depths of evil while supporting a culture’s belief systems.
Sometimes masks are almost impossible to detect. The false selves we pick up and put on to provide protection and illusion of something possibly better than what is underneath need never be discovered. Whether the façade created is in celebration of an authentic self or a shield to mask the shame of who one really thinks they are, the symbolic mask serves a deeper purpose: it keeps us separate and disconnected from the relationships around us and the one that is the most important. We put them on to pretend we are someone else. Someone better. Someone blessed. Yet the wearer is kept from the deep bonding relationship with Christ by the very act of turning away from their true selves. The quality of our spiritual health is in direct proportion to our spiritual relationship with God.
In order to know Christ and have a relationship with Him, we must be able to reach out and connect with His forgiveness, His healing, and His grace. We must bring the very events that shape the quality of our relationship with Him into His marvelous light of love. If not, we become bound to our false selves, putting more stock in the mask’s protection than God. We live a lie and we are not free to focus on what it means to be Christ like or able to give others what we receive. As Christians, we have a new covenant and a new identity in Christ. Our realization that we are accepted not through law but through the Spirit lifts the veil and we see the truth. We are Children of God and we claim the Spirit of God within us. We have no need of masks anymore. We are called to train ourselves to be Godly and to build on our spiritual health through the renewal of our minds in the Word of God.
Call to Action
Pray and reflect on these scriptures throughout the week.
1 Peter 2:9 (NLT) But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
Col 3:16 (NLT) Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with Thankful Hearts.
2 Cor 3:16 (NLT) But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Peter 3:18 (NLT) Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.
Reflections:
1. Have you ever felt like you are going through the motions watching others move through life effortlessly, joyfully, while you struggle? List those feelings and then take some time to reflect on whether those feelings were of God or the enemy? Are you buying into a lie? How does this effect your spiritual health?
2. Have you ever felt like you were wearing a mask? One that showed others you had it all together, but underneath you were using the last of your energy just to hold that smile. Like the Wizard of OZ , we become exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually trying to keep that mask in place. Take some time after prayer and reflection to journal how hiding or relying on your false self has hindered close relationships around you. What has this cost you?
3. What changes could you see happening in your life and relationships if you exercised your spiritual health and set down the false self?
