What is a Mask?
A mask is an internalized lie we mistakenly claim as our identity, but fundamentally external because it does not belong to our true self in Christ.
Scripture
Joshua 10:16-26
Luke 10:19
Luke 9:1-2
Reflection
I have spent the greater part of five years trying to understand this thing that was so outside of anything I had ever experienced. I explain in The Captive's Psalm that I have spent my life as a gardener in a garden, tending and growing good things. When the spiritual war came in 2019, I had nothing to fight with and no understanding of war strategy. My masks were different from the masks HD (Ex Husband in The Captive's Psalm) wore. It was his masks I was facing, that we were both facing. We can’t see our own distortions, but when we are faced with other’s distortions we must accept we also carry our own. The beautiful part is we can absolutely take off what was never truly ours to begin with, if we are willing.
In Joshua 10, the five enemy kings aren't out in the open fighting; they run away and hide deep inside the dark cave of Makkedah. Joshua finds them, rolls large stones over the mouth of the cave, and traps them there. But he doesn't leave them buried alive in the dark. He commands his men: "Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me." Then, he has his commanders put their feet on the necks of those kings before they slay them completely.
The Cave: The subconscious spaces where we hide our pain, fear, and shame.
The Hidden Kings: The false, internalized authority figures (like the lies of "unlovable," "broken," or "rejected") ruling our automated behaviors from beneath the surface.
The Execution: Dragging those lies out of the dark, exposing them to the light of God's Word, putting our feet on their necks, and stripping off the mask for good.
This is the basic process of taking off the masks handed to us by pain. But to truly take them off, we have to understand where they hide and how they get their power. A mask is an internalized lie—it feels internal because we have taken ownership of it, but it is external because it doesn't belong to who we are in Christ. We hide behind false structures because we are terrified of the vulnerability of our true wounds. But rules, performance, and forced smiles cannot heal what a heart refuses to surrender. We cannot open our hands to the tools, gifts, and freedom God has placed along our path forward if we refuse to release our grip from the old identities forced upon us. To step into the new thing God is doing, we have to bring those hidden kings into the light, strip off the masks, and remember exactly who He says we are. It's like the five hidden kings in Joshua 10.
I know this sounds like an overwhealming task. Thank God for His grace. We don’t have to be perfect to walk with Him. We can come as we are, with all our baggage and every mask. His Presence is enough. He will slay the kings, and those masks will fall one by one.
Returning to Truth
We all have masks we have worn for so long they feel like parts of our personalities, our identities, our stories.
God isn't asking you to become someone else, but to uncover the person He created you to be before the lies took hold.
His truth is not meant to condemn you, but to free you.
Questions to Consider
What mask have I become so comfortable wearing that I mistake it for my identity?
What wound first convinced me those labels were true?
What truth from God's Word speaks directly against that lie?
Prayer
Father,
Search my heart and reveal every mask I have worn that was never mine to begin with. Give me the courage to bring every hidden king into the light of Your truth. Help me surrender every lie, every wound, and every false identity that keeps me from walking in the freedom You have already purchased for me. Teach me to trust Your voice above every other voice, and remind me each day who I am in Christ. In Jesus' name,
Amen.
