Have You Ever Felt Like An Imposter?
“Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” Genesis 4:25 NIV
Come out, come out wherever you are. Remember the game of hide and seek you used to play as a kid? The seeker would count to 100 and say, ‘ready or not here I come.’ The object of the game was to find the best hiding place, turn out the lights and not be found by the seeker. If the seeker found you then you became it having to go find those in hiding. If you couldn’t be found then the seeker would say…..
“Come out, come out wherever you are.”
Have you ever felt like an Imposter?
Like you were playing a game of hide and seek only it wasn’t a game, it was your reality? At one point in our lives we all hide from something, whether its to cover up gray hair (to appear younger than we are) or a pesky blemish on our face. We all try to cover up our imperfections.
There have been so many times in my life where everything from the outside appears like its straight out of story tale when in reality I’ve been so desperately hurting on the inside. From a distance it looks like I have everything all together but really feel like any moment the life I’ve built is going to crumble and fall apart. I feel like one of those imposters who doesn’t expose their mess in front of others but instead keeps it hidden so no one will know.
At any moment someone is going to discover I don’t have it all together, nor do I have it all figured out. Can you relate?
Why do we hide?
I think the very nature of our genetic makeup predisposes us to hide. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, God gave them one command, Do not eat from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” Genesis 2:17. Well, we know how that all went down. Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, they became ashamed of what they did and hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees in the garden when they heard God walking in the garden (Gen. 3:8).
The next part amazes me, God then calls out to them and asks them a question which he already knew the answer to–“Where are you?” Genesis 4:9. God was the one who created Adam and Eve, giving them life, did they really think they could hide from God? God is God and knows all things. There is no where we can hide that he doesn’t see us. There is nothing we can keep hidden from Him that he doesn’t already know.
“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:23-24 NIV
It’ s so amazing time and time again we think we are safer or better off if we hide instead coming into the presence of God in the first place. We try so hard to hide behind fake facades, perfectly manicured lives, masks of whom we think others will accept. And yet we are so weary from trying to keep up with an image that doesn’t even matter.
In my professional life I wear a mask for a living to help maintain the sterility of the room I’m working in. If one person enters the room without having the proper attire or their mask up to cover their face, there is a breech in the sterility of the room. There are days I’m thankful I get to hide behind my mask so people don’t know whether I’m smiling or having a bad day. Just as these masks protect the sterility of the room, our imposter masks protect us from others getting close to us and seeing the real version of ourselves.
These personas we hide behind aren’t really who we are at all. The imposter masks may help protect our fake image but in the long run only end up falling apart.
The masks we wear don’t make it better, they enable us to live as imposters in Fakeville.
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“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Ephesians 4:25 NIV
It’s scary right? Exposing yourself to others, letting them know your flaws, your deficits, your imperfections? What if you let others in and they discover who you really are and they don’t accept you?
These are valid concerns and fears. We must surround ourselves with people whom we trust. Pray for God’s wisdom and discernment of who you should share your struggles with, whom you can trust.
Where are you?
When God called to Adam and Eve to come out of hiding, Adam told God he hid because he was naked. God then responded, “Who told you that you were naked?”
Who told you?
Who told you, you must be ashamed?
Who……. told………… you?
‘But everything exposed by the light becomes visible–and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.’ Ephesians 5:13 NIV
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Have you ever felt like an imposter?
Our struggles, our burdens, our trials are not meant to go through alone. The enemy wants us to feel shame so he can isolate us and keep us hidden in the dark with our troubles. He wants to whisper lies for us to believe we’re better off hiding. When we bring our struggles into the light the enemy has no power over us and sets us free from the darkness to be able to live in the light of our flaws, deficits and imperfections they way God created us. God never meant for us to hide behind our flaws but for them to be apart of who we are.
Have Can I Pray For You?
God does his best work in the light. If you are going through a tough season or trial have you asked someone to pray for you? Have you told a trusted individual? Let another person come alongside you and walk with you in your struggle.
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