I Entered This New Year A Whole Lot Lighter And Only Because I Got Sick And Tired Of Going To God Covered Up.

Hebrews 4:12-13, “What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His Word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell Him the truth.” (CEV)

I’ll tell you this; I Entered This New Year A Whole Lot Lighter And Only Because I Got Sick And Tired Of Going To God Covered Up. I was exhausted always trying to find the right words without sharing all of my wrong. I was tip-toeing around the throne room hoping He wouldn’t notice all the detours my feet had made from the path He laid out for my life. Now, I love talking to God, I just didn’t want to take my mask off to do it. But I determined that going into this New Year my relationship with my Father was going to be better by being real! And I can honestly say I love talking to God now more than ever. And I mean the real me talking to the real Him. All of me, with nothing restrained or disguised. The things that scare me, the things that cause me to panic get nervous and anxious. The things that weaken my faith and strengthen my fears. I tell Him all the things that make me walk in unbelief. And come to think of it, it honestly amazed me that I was saved for so long, and yet didn’t have a Real relationship with God where I could be naked and not ashamed and tell Him everything. The big things, little things and silly things. It doesn’t matter what it is, the point is I’m His daughter and He’s my Dad and at any given moment He wants to hear from the real me. My prayer life has become more personal, real, practical and effective. I feel God’s love and see His guidance and hear His compassion and feel His protection. In essence, I dropped a lot of weight when I took off my mask before Him. I finally felt safe, protected, carried, cared for and real.

I’m not a fan of Halloween, but I learned a lesson from it in a story a friend told. He said, “I had to stop at a convenience store one Halloween night. I was not "trick or treating" however. I was actually just trying to pay for the gas I put in my car. But that's when I saw this interesting sign they had posted; it was a sign I had never seen anywhere else before. It simply said, "Please remove your mask before you enter." Although, I wasn't wearing one. But to be honest, for one brief unhappy moment, I did remember what they used to tell me in school long after Halloween was over, some mean kids would yell, "Hey, Halloween's over, take off your mask!" I wasn't wearing one then either (kids can be cruel even when in jest). But the sign in the store was no joke or laughing matter by far. Obviously, they didn't want someone to try to pull off a Halloween heist, wearing a mask that would conceal their identity from the security cameras. This is why they were so adamant about no one entering the store that night wearing a mask.”

Well, we both took away the same interesting thought from his experience. We wondered if God feels that very same way about us when we enter prayer. Truth is I can almost imagine a sign like that one at the store, being displayed at the entrance to the Throne Room of our Almighty God which we enter when we pray: "Please remove your mask before you enter."

And you know why? Because God is not impressed by our religious words or our religious image. He is not interested in seeing the masks that we sometimes wear around various groups of people. He does not want to hear a recitation of the same tired old prayer script that we often repeat without thinking. He insists that we come as we really are - completely unmasked. You see, the real God can only help the real you!

Psalm 139, “God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to You; even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of Your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and You’re there, then up ahead and You’re there, too—Your reassuring presence, coming and going.

Who, in their right mind, would ever attempt to hide anything from a God who knows them this well? It’s absolutely pointless! And yet, we still come to God in prayer wearing fig leaves! We’re still trying to play cover-up! We’re still trying to hide behind flawed masks. He already knows what's behind the mask you show everyone else. You can’t and you won't shock Him, no matter what you have to tell Him. You won't surprise Him! But you will insult Him by coming to Him as if you’ve got it altogether! If its one thing God does not appreciate, it’s Performance. Don’t believe me? Listen to His Word:

Listen, God desires to talk with us about absolutely anything; however, God operates on an invitation basis. He comes into your life when you open it up to Him. So He's asking you to check your mask at the door of His Throne Room and come, as the hymn says, "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me." That’s the relationship God is looking for. One of sincerity, one that is authentic and real. One without hypocrisy and pretense and performance! And yet, the one He’s getting is:

You see this is where we find ourselves when God is finally fed up! This is a people that either ignored God, or gave Him a religious performance, or sought after help from everyone and everything else but Him. And as the old saying goes, “even nice people have their limit.” Well, so does God! We love to talk about God’s love, mercy, grace and favor, but you do know He’s also Just?

Think about it: If you were in a relationship with someone who never talked to you, shared anything with you and spent no time with you, how much longer would you actually stay in that relationship? How long before you have to say something…do something about it? Well, stop treating God any different. He’s screaming “I’m Right Here”, and still we either go to the horoscopes, popular preachers, or we go to Him in pretense or we ignore Him altogether. Exactly how much longer do you think God will tolerate this?

We serve a God who is touchable, available, accessible, so why are we being distant or disguised? He’s waiting in the Throne Room for us to come and visit, what are we waiting for? After all He only desires that you take off your mask before entering, is that really that hard?

Truth be told, He already knows about the affair, the habit, the addiction, the lie. He knows where you were, who you were with and what you did. So what exactly do you think you can hide from Him? How can you possibly think you can hide what can only be exposed and revealed before Him?

So why not go to Him, honestly, and tell Him that you were jealous, envious, coveting, malicious, vengeful, angry, bitter, belittling, and resentful? He knows already anyway, He’s only trying to talk with you about it to make you better. He understands your failures, your stumbles, even your deliberate sin!

Take Him all of your issues, problems, worries, struggles, complexities. All of it! The embarrassing moments, the shame, the guilt, the depression, the confusion, the loneliness, the anxieties, the stresses, the disappointments and discouragements. Take Him all the hurt, the pain, the grief, the helplessness and hopelessness. Take Him all the failures, flaws, stumbles, heartbreaks. And feel no fear in doing so! He's waiting for you to enter the throne room, unmasked! I desire to SEE and HEAR the REAL YOU!

So, will you enter the throne room today, unmasked?