Isaiah 25:8-9 ERV
But death will be destroyed forever. And the Lord GOD will wipe away every tear from every face. In the past, all of his people were sad, but God will take away that sadness from the earth. All of this will happen because the LORD said it would. [9] At that time people will say, “Here is our God! He is the one we have been waiting for. He has come to save us. We have been waiting for our LORD. So we will rejoice and be happy when he saves us.”

Mask everywhere! The world at large now wears masks. Amazing! The origin of the mask is probably from the meaning of ‘MAN IN DISGUISE’. I grew up in a society that has all kinds of festivals that included wearing masks (all with their meanings), some with terrible looks that causes fear. Criminals used to wear a mask to disguise their face to avoid recognition, and if a masked man stopped us or came to our door, we will be terrified, but the opposite is the case today. You can almost do nothing or go anywhere without a mask.
A mask is an object that covers part or all of the face, sometimes even part of the head, and sometimes even the entire head. The mask serves as a marker for characterization in some communities, religious group and ceremonies.
Mask off mask on! Is there a person not wearing a mask? Everyone has masks on-I’m talking about the spiritual, emotional and psychological mask-the mask no one can see but you know is there. A mask denotes something spread out and covering or concealing something else, like the veil on Moses’ face to cover the glory of the Lord Exodus 35:33-35.
Are you wearing a mask? A spiritual mask, any? You can hide from man, but nothing is hidden from the Lord-Hebrews 4:13 and even as you’re hiding, the Lord is coming in search of you to redeem and deliver you.
There are so many of us hiding behind masks to cover our pain, fear, insecurities and shame, either because we don’t want to be judged, ignored, labelled or left behind. So many are suffering mentally, spiritually, and more and not receiving support-Philippians 2:4.
Are we so busy to offer support to others suffering around us? We see the suffering in friends, neighbours, colleagues, even the passer-by on the street but ignore them because “it’s not my business,” “you’re in a hurry,” “you couldn’t be bothered.” Why? Because we either too selfish, too proud or have not yet realised that we are to love everyone- love is a verb, an action word. Mark 12:31. If a prisoner (from no fault of his own) could see the suffering on the faces of his mates and offer comfort, compassion born of godly love, why can we free men not offer the same to those around us? Genesis 40:4-8. He could have “minded his business” ignored their pain, or think he has his issues.
Everyone has issues but looking beyond your pain to see someone’s suffering and offering comfort may just be where and how you get your breakthrough. Romans 15:5.
Mask off mask on! Mask on! Have you become so comfortable with the mask on that you no longer recognise yourself without it? Haggai 1:7, don’t allow the mask covering your face and glory to blur the lines between your self-sufficiency and your need to depend on God.
Mask off! The covering, the veil, Vs 7. The pall of death or darkness hanging over all humanity is not the Lord’s desire-the Lord wants to unveil us for the light of God in us to be seen. The illumination of God can overturn and overshadow whatever is hidden with the “mask on.” Decide today if you want to hide God’s light in you. Mask off mask on!
Shalom