Many years ago I attended a clown ministry clinic. There I was taught to use clown face makeup to create my unique clown face. My eyes were embellished with paints to make them look larger and of course happy, on one cheek I put three happy balloons, on the other a big red heart and of course a big smile that exaggerated my own. I donned a bright yellow wig as well as a bright colored suit in red, green, blue and of course yellow to match my hair. I loved my clown face and through the years, I used it willing for many VBS programs and children’s programs. Unfortunately, even though the face paint has dried up and been thrown away at times I still hide behind a “false face”.
Sometimes I wear a smile when my heart is broken! Do you do the same? As a Christian sometimes we feel we should put on the face of victory when we feel anything but victorious. For some reason we think we can’t let down the mask to expose our true feelings or the true condition of our hearts. After all we have an "image" to protect! The bible calls this pride! When we are too proud to say “I just don’t have it all together, right now” we actually rob God of an opportunity to be glorified in our lives. We rob others of the opportunity to see God work in our lives.
Imagine with me a man at the bottom of a deep, dark pit. The man calls for help to those who pass by but they offer him no help. Discouraged, he settles down to die alone in that pit but just as he is about to give up, he hears rustling at the top of the pit and loose rock begins to fall on his head. After a few minutes a stranger appears right beside him. Instead of being happy the man scolds the stranger, “why have you jumped down here with me, now we are both lost?” At this the stranger picks the man up and in a calm voice says “No, we are not lost! I’ve been here before, I will show you the way out!”
In order to help others we need to drop our masks, our pride, and admit we have been there before as we point to God as the only way out.
In a world that is filled with people who are not authentic, people long to know someone who is! Aren't we, as Christians, to be real in our beliefs that God is the only Way!
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
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