Wouldn’t it be great if all the masks really came off after Halloween?

Unfortunately, when November arrives two things will linger from the October holiday—buckets of candy and many masks. Kids will guard their loot from sneaky siblings while adults will wear the masks to keep up the façade.

We have different masks for all occasions, most of which last all through the year. It’s not just an October affair.

• I’ve worn my game face mask into the locker room with other football Moms pretending all is well when it really wasn’t.
• I’ve worn a mask of contentment instead of being honest with my jealousy.
• I’ve hidden behind the mask of Texas friendliness, when I really should have been honest in a relationship.
• I’ve worn the mask of “keep calm and carry on”–when it was all but calm and I wasn’t sure if I could carry on much longer.

I’m sure you have your masks too. Maybe you pull out one when you go to church, or to the family reunion, or to work every morning. Maybe you’re not even honest with yourself when you’re looking in the mirror.

Let’s take them off. It’s something I have to do regularly–even when it’s not October–because before I know it, I’m hiding behind a new mask without even realizing that I picked one up.

It starts with being honest with God. I sit in a quiet place and pray the words from Psalm 139. You can’t recite the words quickly before hustling off to your normal routine. It takes time. Time in stillness and honesty. We’ve clung to our masks so tightly that it takes a little while to set them down.

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

You perceive my thoughts from afar….

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 1-2,23-24

There is freedom when we take time to be honest and set the masks down. It gives God’s love a chance to reach deeper.

I wish this were an exercise that we do once and it’s taken care of–like throwing the mask into the closet after an evening Trick-or-Treating. But since the masks keep showing up, I keep having a reason to go to him for some honest time in solitude.

Now that’s a good custom that can last throughout the year—seeking solitude with God, inviting him to search my heart and to lead me in His way.

What are some masks that you hide behind?