Masked

 

Life’s masked encounters,

Ones who have no face,

Live on in the voices

As we make our way.

 

Whispers cloth and paper muffled,

Sweet indulgences now life muted,

Never failing, always trying,

Heart aims to be heard before “Goodbye.”

 

Sweet innocence event hidden,

Smiles never by encounter known,

Giggles, laughs must be the bearer

Of heartsong’s language to another.

 

Sparkling eyes, rise of chin,

Demurely bending when encounter perchance,

Cues most often overlooked

Become the clear parlance.

 

Life’s masked encounters,

Hide more than lost whispers

More than lost smiles,

Make no mistake.

 

For as time moves forward,

The more we are aware,

The more stays behind the mask

Secreted back in fear.

 

Each roaming mask

Seeks shelter, solace,

Though fear peeks through the shutter,

Heart, unseen, precious haven finds.

 

The intake of life,

Breath bends mask’s creases,

As depth of emotion,

Causes sighs and stuffs senses.

 

Stuffed tears,

Stuffed sadness

Stuffed distress,

Stuffed fear.

 

People walk behind creased masks

Waiting for crease marks someone to see,

Waiting through blur of tears,

Waiting for hurt to be beheld

 

Immune, none are we,

Walking this once new, now old, path.

Look, really see, behold the masked faces,

Hear the silent crying people hold back.

 

Fear of dying, fear of needing,

Fear of not knowing when,

Fear of gasping, fear of pleading,

Fear of ending the pain within.

 

Before it’s too late,

Take the chance, really see

People here, people there,

People the same as you and me.

 

Be seen without the masks we buy and make.

To be known deeper than a glance.

The fears, more common than before.

Reach out, share, hear, and care more.

Perspective and the Donkey

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. (2 Cor. 6:4-5, 8-10 [NLT])

Do you ever feel like the donkey harnessed to a mill walking in circles all day every day to grind the farmer’s grain? That’s how it can seem when you are working hard, and no one notices. Consider the devotional below to understand what Paul teaches about this.

How is your devotion to God? Did you receive His vision of the task to which He calls you? Did you begin to do it, but after a while decide it was rote and mundane, and then forget to keep your eyes on God? The physical aspect became drudgery and, possibly, you became bitter about why you, you of all people, had to do this work. You then stumbled, found yourself attacked by other people questioning your motives, and really began wondering why you were doing these things.

Paul spoke about this. He wrote about continuing to do what Jesus told him to do, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that, Paul said he suffered. In 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, he listed some things he and his companions endured. By writing of his travails, Paul encouraged other believers to continue keeping their eyes on Christ. These verses told other Christians what happens when they follow Jesus.

Remember, Paul was a persecutor before he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He actively sought to imprison or kill Jesus-followers so they would not lead the Jews away from the true faith. After Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became one with other Christ-followers. He suffered torture, imprisonment, attempts to kill him, poverty, hunger, etc. In reading each of Paul’s letters in the New Testament, we realize he never stopped telling people about Jesus Christ. He never declared being poor, touching the sick, or being imprisoned was beneath him, a Jew of Jews trained by Gamaliel. (Acts 22:3, Philippians 3:3-6)

Never once do we read in the Bible that Paul turned his back on Jesus. His hardships, troubles, and calamities did not cause his zeal to disappear, but served as a reminder to him that he was a true Christ-follower. Paul suffered as Jesus suffered. Jesus said His followers would experience what He did and more. (Matthew 24:9, Matthew 10:17, 22, John 15:19, 21, John 16:2) Paul took this to heart as an encouragement. Though he asked God to relieve him of the thorn in his side, he endured in his own weakness because God said His “power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) Paul willingly endured many things for the sake of Christ to reach all people with the gospel so that none would perish.

What are we willing to endure for Christ? Drudgery? Unimportance? Exhaustion? Persecution? Mockery? Poverty? Death? Do we think about these things and become upset by them? Do we consider them undeserved and rail against them? Do we consider it a badge of honor for people to misuse us for the sake of the gospel of Christ?

The donkey at the mill sees the ground, carrot, and grinding stones all day every day. He doesn’t see the final product, the meal. Don’t consider yourself like this donkey who doesn’t have an end-goal perspective. Consider the meal from the mill that will come as you continue to keep your eyes on God and gain His perspective. People will be saved.

Perspective is everything. At whom you look is most important.

Looking at yourself can cause anger and feelings of insignificance.

Looking to God causes you to have His perspective. He desires all people be saved from sin and death.

God is greater than our circumstances.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Keep His perspective; though He was rich, He became poor so all people may be saved.

Keep your eyes on God.

Keep God’s perspective.

Lord, I have done it again. I came to You and gave myself to You for Your service, heard Your call and began doing what You said. Next thing I knew, I felt unrecognized and taken for granted. I felt people taking advantage of me. Now I realize I took my eyes off You and had a worldly perspective. Please forgive me for not seeking You each moment of the days. Forgive me for walking in my own strength and getting upset because of what other people said or did or didn’t say or do. This work is not about me, but about You. I can do nothing to save people, nor can I do anything in my own strength. I need You, Lord. I need You to guide me, give me Your strength and peace, and make me able to do the work You called me to do. Lord, clothe me fully with Yourself and remove the tatters of the old nature from me. I surrender myself fully to You right now. Guard me against my right to myself and help me to be humble. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The River Between Us

A spark, a stir, and itch to scratch,

A need to write with no theme upon my mind.

Always thinking of God, about whom I write.

That theme, my greatest interest all the time.

I want more, reflect feelings, to call soul to soul.

Reaching out, reaching for more, want to know what;

Upon what should I reflect, write, offer a thought;

My mind queries, fumbles, grapples, deeply it sought.

Feelings available, at hand, there are many

On whom to focus, consider love, different with each one.

Sister, mother, brother, husband, son and daughter,

Each spark a primary color, the major flame, of that dear one.

Love, the balloon, around each family member,

Crackles, envelopes, embraces, as life evolves.

Rarely does a feeling burst the outer boundary.

Comfort, cushion, life’s safe-haven, love covers all.

When in time storms arise and we falter,

Seeking strength, steady hands and arms, hearts embrace.

Calling out in fear and hope, the light of love’s aglimmer,

Fainting, shaking, sweating, fear’s erased.

What one says cannot remove a life’s experience,

Even if strong winds and actions blur the lines.

As a son or daughter of God almighty,

Love’s never vanquished but stands the test of time.

Those strained boundaries of heart relations,

Bound and strengthened by the might of God’s hands,

Keep the love alive when hope seems vanquished,

Pulsing stronger as God calls His own to stand.

Reaching forward, grasping with His strength,

How can they be here at my deepest need?

God the Father, never leaves or abandons;

His depth of love flows through His child from His mercy seat.

No matter the pull or strain of a loved one,

God’s love still can flow through one straying, but never gone.

Each, if honest, recognizes this eternal truth;

For God is the Model of faithful, enduring love.

Though straying never snatched forever,

God won’t allow His child to be lost, alone;

Just as we turn our backs to Him and He loves us,

So we can love holding strong to our loved one.

Ruptured relations, broken hearts and promises

Don’t break ties forever with those we love;

Because God’s love is the river we share between us,

When in need, our relations know our love’s there to carry them on.