But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matt 6:33 (NKJV)
On Stage
The Message Bible titles this chapter with “The world is not a stage…” In reference to a line from one of Shakespeare’s plays “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts…”
When we live on show for others, the pressure to perform is crippling. We get caught up on appearances and on playing the part – or many parts – well. For me, I’m tempted to compartmentalise my life into all these different parts I play: Mum, wife, friend, business owner, writer, creative, administrator, daughter, sister, meeting attendant, meeting runner, cleaner, cook, washer, party thrower, comforter, disciplinarian and more… all the while, every hair in place, a perpetual smile on my face, humming “Jesus loves me…” while I dip in and out of whatever character the moment calls for.
Exhausting.
The world is not a stage. And there are no characters. Just real people, experiencing real life.
So keep it real. Don’t get caught up trying to perform for others, proving yourself worthy… Don’t get bogged down in the rat-race of making a living and building reputations. There’s so much more to life. Worry has a paralysing effect on our faith and causes our vision to be rigid and panicked. “How am I going to pay that bill, how am I going to meet this deadline… How, how, why, why…”
The Kingdom of God is one of love. A world where grace and mercy reveal the truth about beauty and hope. A posture of the heart where worry cannot invade and fear is evicted. When you stop living your life like a performance seeking approval and acceptance; when you stop flitting in and out of roles and characters, you give yourself the opportunity to be awakened to the Kingdom of God (The Kingdom of love).
Seek this Kingdom first in all you do. Understand that life is more than numbers and performances, reputations and networks… there is beauty to behold, grace to accept and love to both give and receive. And all the things you worry about have a way of being worked out for good for those who live a life of love, seeking first the Kingdom of God.
“He will give you everything you need…”
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