Costumes and Masks

Things we put on that make us fake.

Last week we talked about those things that go bump in the night; those things that scare us and make us afraid; our fears. I went over with you the three types of responses our bodies can have when we experience that fear. Our physiological response is the way that our actual bodies respond when we experience fear. When our hearts pound, our breathing becomes quicker; we sweat and we get ready for the flight or the fight that's about to take place. ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

Our behavioral responses which is our action responses to our fear; when we avoid certain places, people and experiences to keep from experiencing that fear or we develop habits or reliance's on medication to control our fears.

Our cognitive responses which is our thinking responses because of the fear. We can become obsessed by our fears; they can become all consuming…we begin to think that everything and everyone is out to get us. We can become paranoid and change who we are on the inside. In that we begin to wear masks and costumes around those we come into contact with.

This is what I'd like to talk to you about.

Out of our fears we can begin to change into people that we truly aren't on the inside.

We can develop into a fake or phony person and we ourselves can lose sight of who we really are. A few years ago I read the book Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes by Brennan Manning and Jim Hancock and it opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of us out there who are wearing masks and costumes instead of being who we truly are in our hearts.

A.W. Tozer wrote that – "what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

The book states that people tend to project their opinions about God onto the world and then we project onto God our worst attitudes and feelings about ourselves.

There is a story in the book about a young boy named Ruller trying to catch a wild turkey. The story portrays our experience with God; how we feel generous when God's been generous with us; and how God is just waiting all the time to take back those good things from us when we screw up.

Sometimes in life we think of God as a bookkeeper –keeping track of all our debits and credits and counting our every misstep and screw up that we make in life and that he holds them all against us. In our minds we begin to see Him as a grudge holder who desires to get back at us by snatching those things that we love and desire out of our hands. When we lose something in our lives; like Ruller who loses his turkey -we can think of God as an unpredictable bad tempered unfair man in the sky. But also on top of all that: we also think; "that God thinks we're a mess –we think; of course He does, and why wouldn't He; who can blame God – look at me, I AM a mess."

There is a famous quote by Blaise Pascal; "God made us in His own image and we have more than returned the compliment."

If we feel hatred for ourselves then it makes sense in our minds that God must hate us too.  If we view ourselves as failures then God must also view us as a failure.

But that's not how God thinks of us.

He loves us and His love is amazing, steady and unchanging.

God's love is not dependant on how much we please Him with our actions. He loves us just because He loves us.

Think about it in this way; do you love your parents because they take care of you – because they feed you and clothe you? If they quit doing that would your love stop for them? No, of course not; you would still love them. True love is not dependant on what we get from someone; we love them because we simply love them.

But yet with God we feel that we have to act in a certain way to get His love.

We think that God couldn't possibly help us out in our lives because we aren't good enough to receive His help. Our own inadequacies strangle us. We become afraid.

There is a story in the book where a man asks his young son – "Daniel, when you see Jesus looking at you; what do you see in His eyes?"

And after a long pause the boy replied, "His eyes are filled with tears, Dad."

The father asked, "Why is that, Dan?"

And the son quietly whispers – "because He is sad."

The dad then finally asks, "But why is He so sad?"

The son stares for a long time looking at the floor and then finally looks up at his dad with tears in his eyes and says, "Because I'm afraid."

That's the problem….It NOT supposed to be like that!

God never meant for us to be afraid. It breaks His heart that we are afraid of Him, that we are afraid of life, afraid of each other and afraid of ourselves.

He created woman from man so that he would have community – a close life together and with God Himself. But when the enemy successfully deceived Adam – it led to a path that led also to shame and caused him to try to hide his nakedness with fig leaves and trying to take cover among the trees.

It breaks God's heart that we run from Him instead of to Him when we fail in our lives.

We need to quit wearing masks and costumes and we need to get real with the God who created us. We don't like to be seen for what we truly are. It's so much easier to continue to pretend to be something we aren't.

Simon Tugwell wrote: We hide what we know or feel about ourselves to be (which we assume to be unacceptable and unlovable) behind some kind of appearance which we hope will be more pleasing. We hide behind pretty faces which we put on for the benefit of our public. And in time we many even come to forget what we are hiding and begin to think that our assumed face is what we really look like.

The saddest things are when we think we aren't good enough to be loved by God or when we think that He is fooled by our pretty masks and costumes.

Now don't want be confused- God does accept sin - but He also does not withhold His love for us when we do sin.

The truth is that God didn't save us so that He could love us. He saved us because He loved us.

 Why then do we try to hide behind masks and wear costumes?

We pretend we don't need Him in our lives and out of our fear we don't draw close to God because we don't want the true diagnosis of what we actually have wrong with us.

It's just like when people refuse to go to the Dr. because they're afraid of bad news; sometimes people also run from the God who heals because they're afraid that He will point out not just that one thing but also the other things that are wrong with us.

A lot of people cannot stand to be alone with who they really are inside. It's so much easier to continue being who they are instead of changing. That's why we have so many people consumed with busyness; they just keep busy doing and accomplishing and try not to think about who they really are. Others choose to just check out by sleeping away all their time. Some get involved with alcohol or drugs. Others live off the approval of others and they go around overachieving in everything because it's how they feel good about themselves. Some turn to food and some self abuse like cutting or even punishing their bodies by bulimia or anorexia and some others of course turn to sex.

Henri Nouwen wrote:  I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self rejection. Success, popularity and power can present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation of self rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap however is self rejection…self rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us beloved.

Maybe Franklin Delano Roosevelt said it best:

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

We cannot afford to keep wearing these masks and costumes in our lives.

1 Peter 5:5 tells us to clothe ourselves with humility. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  It takes true humility to take off our masks and stand before God.

Some of us are just one moment away from our greatest encounter with God but it will not come unless we are willing to GET REAL!

We cannot change what we don't admit needs changing. Whatever we don't admit needs changing will never be healed and…God cannot heal what we continue to conceal with our masks and costumes.

Our biggest concern in this life should not be whether we're liked by the people in this world but instead that we are pleasing to the God who created and loves us.

What you are really afraid of reveals what's in your heart.

Ask God to look inside of it; invite Him in and then be willing to work on your flaws. He won't be surprised that you have them. He knows they're there; He's just waiting for you to get real with Him.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

What fears are holding you back?When I was a teenager I used to go up to Troy Grove at night and hang out with friends. Unfortunately, what I did a lot of the time was stay out t too late and then I would have to walk home in the dark. Needless to say I never really walked – I ran! I would walk up until the very last street light and then I would take off full speed ahead and not stop or hardly breathe until I ran into the door and locked it tight behind me. I was always petrified that someone was going to jump out and grab me down by the bridge and one night that's exactly what happened. My brother and his friend decided that it would be absolutely hilarious to scare me. I however didn't see the humor in it until much, much later. Isn't it amazing how we can be somewhere in the light of day and not be afraid at all but when it suddenly becomes dark we become frightened of every single noise and shadow. Sometimes our fears can be completely irrational but other times our fears can be completely reasonable. All of us have heard the news of horror stories where someone who was hurt by a stranger. We've seen pictures of innocent people going into shopping malls and are never seen again. These things can cause us fear. And in the dark of night or after we've heard a particularly disturbing story we sometimes expect the worst in situations.

FEAR is part of being human. It's an alarm that goes off inside of our bodies to signal danger and our bodies begin to produce responses so that our chances of survival are increased.  Sometimes there is no real danger – just a perceived danger that causes this reaction but other times there IS real danger that causes our bodies to go through a series of changes called the fight or flight response. When this happens three types of responses can occur in our bodies.

We can have:

A physiological response which is the way our actual bodies will respond.

A behavioral response which is our action response to fear.

And a cognitive response; which is our thinking responses because of the fear.

Physiological 

When we become afraid or anxious our bodies can respond in many ways.

Our hearts can begin to pound.

Our breathing becomes quicker.

We can get sweaty palms.

We can become lightheaded.

Our bodies are designed to release certain chemicals when we believe that there is a real imminent threat  …this happens in case we need to run away or stand and fight for our lives. All of these things happen though for a specific reason.

When our hearts beat faster it enables our blood and oxygen to be pumped through our bodies much faster.

When we breathe quicker it allows more oxygen to be taken into our bodies.

Because of this quick breathing we can sometimes feel light headed or just feel funny or different because our blood is pooled to other areas of our bodies instead of our head.

Because of this same response we can also get sweaty palms.

Our bodies created by God in His miraculous fashion pool blood away from non vital organs to vital organs that are needed to survive. That is why sometimes you will become cold or have tingling feelings in your toes or hands when you become afraid.

Our bodies also perspire more when we are afraid making it much easier for our bodies to cool off during the stress of fear.

Our pupils widen which enables more light to enter into our eyes and helps us scan for danger.

Our digestive system slows down so that our energy can be diverted too.

That is why sometimes when you are fearful that you will have a dry mouth or sometimes out of fear you will have an increased flow of adrenaline which can cause you to have to use the bathroom or sometimes even vomit.

And our muscles become tense preparing for the fight or flight response.

This is the reason why some people completely collapse in exhaustion after a particularly scary event.

 Behavioral

When we feel anxious or become afraid we sometimes act in certain ways to try to control our fear.

 Sometimes we will avoid certain places, people and experiences to keep from reacting in fear like we have in the past.

Some people become reliant on a certain habit or even medication to deal with the fear. They will go sleep in a different place where others are around or take medicine to go to sleep because they are too fearful to sleep.

Cognitive

Another word is our thinking responses; as a normal fight or flight response we search our surroundings for potential threats. In a particularly dangerous situation this is smart and will eliminate other harms that could come from a situation. But when fear takes over in a person they can begin to no longer truly live but instead just worry continually about trying to survive all the time and they no longer enjoy life's experiences. They become so wrapped up in all of the physical dangers of this world and focus on all the could be's than the what is'.

 There is a story of a woman in Arkansas who was sitting in her car in the parking lot of a grocery store when she heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She was petrified and was holding her hands behind her head when someone walked by and asked her if she was ok? The woman responded by saying that "she had been shot in the head; and that she was trying to hold her own brains in." Come to find out it wasn't that she was shot; and she wasn't holding in her brains but instead holding dough. A Pillsbury biscuit canister that had gotten too hot had exploded in the back seat behind her and hit her in the back of her head.

 Life can be risky – and it can be a scary place in which to live but we are to live and live a life of abundance not filled with worry and fear.

 Fear is a gift from God but it is to be used in the way that He intended it to be used. Fear is good if it keeps us from driving 180mph or touching a hot stove or jumping off a really tall building or petting grizzlies, but some of us are just feared out! Our bodies are working on overload trying to keep up with all the fear that we've put inside it - disguised as just trying to make it in life or sometimes labeled as our "entertainment."People seem to like to be scared. But like all things; it's not necessarily good for you. We fill our minds and heads with fear and then we wonder why we are so afraid and anxious all the time. Then to deal with all the fear we purchase books, drugs, and night lights to try to cope with it all.  And we cannot stand to be alone by ourselves because we just know that everything is out to get us.

 2 Timothy 1:7  For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Is there something that you are afraid of? You don't like to be alone, you are afraid of the dark…or you are in a constant state of worry about your life? Whereas God does not give us the spirit of fear the enemy does. Satan is a master at using our fears against us. He does this so that we will be miserable people. Worry, fear, and anxiousness make us miserable people and miserable people are MUCH TOO SELF ABSORBED  to share the good things of God.

 There was a woman named Hetty Green who is labeled as America's greatest miser. She died in 1916 leaving a fortune of $100 million dollars. But she was so cheap while she lived that she ate cold oatmeal instead of spending the $ to heat up the water and she took so long trying to find a free clinic to treat her son when he got a severe leg injury that he actually had to have it amputated because of the infection that had set in. Here was a woman that could have enjoyed her life to a great degree but instead worried so much about losing it that she probably never experienced much joy at all.

 She worried all the time; about things that happened and things that might have happened…and things that NEVER happened… that's not living, that's just existing.

Our fear paralyzes us by stopping us from doing great things too.

We don't help out in church because we are afraid that we won't do a good enough job.

We won't do something new because we are too afraid to try and fail.

We allow our own criticisms of ourselves to stop us at each and every path instead of giving things a shot.

Needless to say – we don't share the answer to all of life's problems… we don't share Jesus with anyone because we aren't where we need to be either and we don't walk in the confidence of our relationship with Him.

God's plan is that we instead live out….

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

So what is it that drives out fear… what conquers it in our lives…how do we go from a quivering mess of nerves and fear to a confident bold soldier of Christ?

Like I said God is not the author of fear; the only kind of fear He wants you to have is a healthy dose of fear of Him. A respect and admiration of Him who gave you life…HE brought you into this world and He can take you out of it.You won't fear Him unless you know His power… you won't know His power unless you've experienced it for yourself. If you have never asked Jesus for forgiveness of your sins… do that now in the quiet of your own heart. Admit to Him that you are a sinner. Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who gave Him as a perfect sacrifice for our sins and confess your sins to Him who forgives and then give God all the love and worship that He deserves.

Love Him! 1 John 4:15-18 all who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in Him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the Day of Judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that His love has not been perfected in us.

Next, take your fears and face them. Quit letting them hide out in the darkness but instead drag them out into the light. Speak and confess those things to Him that you need help with. We have to have the guts enough to actually ask for help…

Fight your battles God's way not your way. The world would tell you to quit being all mamby pamby and buck up buttercup! But God wants us to rely on Him for the help. He desires to give all good and pleasing gifts to His children and in that He wants to remove all the fears you have hidden inside of your heart and in your mind.

In that use His Name. There is no name more powerful than the name of Jesus. Call on His name for help. Ask for things in His name.

Move forward!

Give up your fears… and quit filling yourself with more fear. Trust and obey God. Fear paralyzes us but when we fight it with the arsenal that God gave us we can not only move forward but be victorious in battle.

What are you afraid of?

What kinds of things go bump in the night that make you are skittish?

What scares you and keeps you from moving ahead in your life?