Friday, February 6, 2009

Masquerade

I want to introduce you to an extremely talented and wise young woman. She is a friend of the family, and a college student using her gifts for the Lord. She posted these notes on Facebook, and I asked her if I could share them. Can you feel her passion? I remember having some of these thoughts in my younger years, and I didn't face half of the junk they have to face now. Can we take the time to encourage her generation?

- Masquerade -

Can anyone hear me? Can anyone see past this mask I wear? This perfect disguise that hides my pain. Is there not one who will ask the hard questions? Is there not one who will stick it through with me? Who are these people who say they are my friends? Do they really care beyond the clothes I wear or the way I do my hair? Slowly my heart is suffocating, waiting for someone to save me, to reach out, to see my pain. Why can’t they hear me? How is it possible that I can feel so alone when surrounded by so many people? My heart is crying out in desperation. Does anybody see me? Does anybody love me? Can’t anybody see past this mask I put on to hide the pain? Am I the only one who feels this way? Certainly I can’t be. I am so afraid.

I am not like the others. They want me to dress like them, to act like them, to talk like them. But that isn’t me. I don’t want to wear their clothes or play their games, but I do anyways. They say they care about me, but I know they don’t. The pressure to fit in is everywhere, taunting and pushing me. I don’t want to, but I have to. So I dress like them, act like them, and talk like them, to try and fit in. I keep the real me locked inside. What if they don’t like me? What if they think I am a freak? Where will I go then? So I tell myself it is better to hide. Every day I wear my mask to hide the pain. And I ask ‘will someone see past this charade today? Will someone care enough to see the pain in my eyes?’ I am so afraid.

This is the cry of my generation. Who will save us? Who will be brave enough to reach out and answer our cries? What are you going to do about it? I am asking you to fight for us. We are worth it, even though most of us don’t believe that. Help us make a stand. Help me save my generation.


~~~A week or so later, Jessica wrote:~~~

So this wednesday night after youth God told me to write this down. It is His reply to what I wrote in Masquerade. How cool is that??!! God is totally moving!! How are you going to let Him use you in this revolution? RISE UP!

My Beloved,

I hear your cries; I see the pain in your eyes. I am here to tell you that I love you. In your darkest hour when you feel completely abandoned, I am there, waiting for you to cry out to Me. I will save you. I will never leave you. You can trust Me. I am God and you are My creation. There are no words to express the love I have for you. I have been waiting for this moment. I long to share My love with you. You are so beautiful to Me. I have heard your cries and I am answering them. Do not be afraid, for I am here. Let Me take away your pain. Give Me your burden. My heart longs to see your smile and to feel your love for Me. There is so much I want to give you. All you have to do is say ‘Yes. Yes, I will love You’ and I will take it from there.

It is time to take off the mask. I have made you for such a time as this. Do not be afraid. You were made to stand out; to be a light in the darkness. Go now and prepare your hearts. I will send them to you and you will lead them to Me. Show them My love. Tell them I am waiting for them; that I have heard their cries and I am longing to answer them. All they have to do is reach out to Me and I will be there waiting with My arms open. It will not be easy, but do not give up hope. Nothing is impossible for Me.

- God


Wowzer. It just doesn't get more powerful than this, friends.

In the Key of HE,

21 friends shared a comment:

Dee Yoder said...

Awww, I DO feel for her. I felt so odd and different in my day, too. Even though it was a LONG time ago, my generation was dropping acid and getting stoned all the time...in high school, I was a "freak" of a do-gooder! I learned something that stuck with me, though. Once you make up your mind to not care if you don't fit in, you'll get stronger and stronger until you realize...you don't care anymore about fitting in! And it is a good trait to get you through your early adult years, too. It is a trait that makes you strong your WHOLE life. God is calling this young lady to serve and shine for Him! Awesome...and very inspiring for me, though I am a dinosaur of life. (: I pray for these young people; they have so much to give and so much more to learn and so much VITALITY!

Laurie Ann said...

Very powerful, indeed! May the Lord be praised and may we be quick to encourage this generation.

Joanne Sher said...

Oh WOW! Sooo powerful. What struggles, what a plea, and what an answer! Absolutely praying!

Sheila said...

I wrote something similar when i was in my teens. i think we all, no matter our age, can identify with the cry of her heart and the desire to be rescued.

I'll be praying this week for ways I can touch the generation of young women after me with Christ's love for them.

thanks for helping me to remember!

Unknown said...

Laura,

Wowzers is right! Young and old alike, we are all crying out to be rescued from this masquerade the world wants us to live. And we need not to be afraid of the youth, but to come alongside them.

So many parents I know are afraid of their young adult children, afraid that if they actually enforce standards for them, rather than just be their friends, that they will lose them. In reality, what this young lady is telling us is that they have enough "friends," that they really need purpose and meaning in their lives, adults who will help them sort through the mess that's out there.

I'd like to repost this on my blog, Glass House Ministries. Please let me know if it's okay.

God bless you,
Cheri

Denise said...

That is so awesomely powerful, God bless this dear one. May we all rise up, and fight for this generation, we are needed.

Betsy Markman said...

I remember being the oddball, and it did hurt some. But it's so freeing to care more about what Christ thinks of you than what your peers think of you! I'm glad this young lady is looking to the Lord for her comfort.

Tracy said...

Beautiful, honest, real - what an amazing post. And what an amazing God to respond to His girl in such a real and profound way. Thanks for sharing - it was a blessing to read.

FYI - I've finally gotten around to creating a button collection for my blog, and I've added your button to it!

Blessings, my friend!

Patty Wysong said...

Wowzer is right. Isn't God the awesomest? Only God can wrap us so completely in His love.
I loved this.

Beth in NC said...

That is awesome! I remember feeling like that. What a difficult age.

I pray her note reaches many young people!

Thank you for sharing!
Beth

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Yes, I remember feeling this way. Still do some days, but age and hard living have freed me from some of these chains. All of "this"--her words and her struggles--are part of her becoming the woman God intended for her to be. The wrestling is paramount; it's no mistake she's landed in your lap for such a time as this.

Tell her that I love her and would consider it an honor to pray for her and to be her friend, albeit from a distance.

Thank God for young adults who are willing to put voice and deep thought into their becoming, and this is what she must realize...

She's becoming. This is her gradual and perfectly timed awakening into the life and witness that God has called her to.

God's got some mighty things in store for Jessica.

peace~elaine

LauraLee Shaw said...

Yes, no doubt adults have a lot to learn from this as well. Often we walk around with our masks of "togetherness," self-sufficiency or success on, all the while dying inside.

I've also no doubt that Jessica has felt this way at times, but knowing her like I do, she has succumbed less to this way of thinking than most girls. I'm thinking she chose to write this in the first person so that those she could minister to could insert themselves as they were reading it. If I'm not mistaken, I believe she even made it into a sketch for the college or youth group at her church.

Writing a dramatic piece in the first person, making it believable for anyone who reads it is the marks of a great writer. I'm so thankful she let me share it.

Debra Kaye said...

Lalee,

No it doesn't get any more powerful than that, you are right, my friend!

How I love the way God met her in her hour of need! Praising Him for that!

Hugs to you today, Lalee.

Anonymous said...

You're right, it doesn't get much better than that!

From your comment on Elaine's peace for the journey... I think you'll enjoy my carnival on Tuesday called What's on Your Mind. I'll love to hear your thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Powerful! Without a single doubt, the Lord will use Jessica (and already is using her!) to reach those who feel as she has expressed, who need the love and kindness of a Saviour. Many blessings for Jessica, and for all that Christ is doing in her life!

LisaShaw said...

This is absolutely POWERFUL!! May she be encouraged in her generation and may others be drawn to the Lord and his heart as she is.

Ahh the refreshing we find when our hearts cry out and then...

the LORD hears and answers. Beautiful.

Sharlyn Guthrie said...

Jessica articulated this so well. I recently read a similar (but not nearly as powerful) piece to the seventh grade girls I teach. When the article asked, "am I the only one who feels this way?" Several of the girls openly shook their heads. I love the response the Lord gave Jessica so much that I think I'll share it with my girls.

lori said...

WOWZER....I need to share this with my oldest Maddie..she's 14 and often feels like the "odd girl out" because of her passion and convictions...the anti-conformity! It's a tough go for these girls of God..

check Maddie out...http://sweetteame.blogspot.com

These two could be friends!
Thanks for sharing this!
Girlfriend...you ROCK!

lori

Anonymous said...

In my youth, I too felt this way. It wasn't until I turned 40 that I grew into my real skin and experienced an awakening from God assuring me that I am never alone and I am always loved. It was monumental to the person I am today. It does not bother me not to fit in. Because I know my place in God's world. And I am totally content being there. I pray for the young people of our world. And hope, they hear the message of God and are able to apply it to their lives.

Terri Tiffany said...

Wow! What an awesome teen she is!

Josh said...

Wow. I can't count the number of times that I have felt like Jessica. And God also spoke to me just as He did her. How beautiful our Savior is! I love the part about Him not wanting us to wear masks. He wants us to stand out and be different. We are a peculiar people called to stand strong in our beliefs so that we can save a lost and dying generation.

Thank you for sharing Jessica's beautiful writing with us, Laura.