Performance

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting You are God."

Psalm 90:1-2, NIV

This morning, I am awestruck by two phenomena. The first one took me by surprise last evening while I was still going non-stop through a dizzying day packed with sundry activities and the second was equally unexpected -- I fell asleep and I woke up!  


How does that work? 
How does the body know the very moment to clock out and clock in?
How does this high-tech communication take place between mind, heart, and body?


Despite the availability of coffee, alarm clocks, sleeping pills, "mood" music, and a host of other controlling measures, I have to admit that I may well facilitate good sleeping habits but I certainly cannot control the actual instant when sleep and my being come together or when they part ways. One thing is sure, however, I have learned that my whole being (mind, heart, body) is an instrument that can neither achieve excellence nor maintain healthy function unless I sleep and wake up regularly.


Sleep and wakefulness go hand in hand. The more restful the former is, the more productive the latter becomes. As people become accepting of and disciplined with their sleep schedule, they perform more efficiently and effectively -- they eat better, they breathe more easily, they smile more often, they produce more fruit.


So, one would think that living accordingly must be an easy matter or a sensible decision that all gratefully adopt.


Yet, bombarded with deadlines, demands, directions, doubts, and depressing thoughts, we often fall prey to the lure of performance success which leaves us overwhelmed, overstretched, overbooked, and overcommitted. Forgetting that there is a divine hand in charge of our lives, we pack our schedules stock full until it seems that one thing barely ends before another is already in full swing. It is a clear picture of a hurried society that nurses frenzy and on-the-go mania, a losing battle with time.


This fast-paced lifestyle is not foreign to performance-minded individuals. It is becoming clearer to me that the more accomplished people are as performers, the more peppered their lives become with commotion, stress, and pressure. The more they seek to have their performances under control, the more out of control real life turns out to be. If they are not careful, performers may mistakenly sacrifice the peace -- the inner peace God promises to His children -- in deference to the thrill, the adrenaline rush, or the "high" that can be attained in the spotlight, regardless of the brevity of said attention.


Some may believe it is a problem that only surfaces in the performing arts. However, the Bible suggests that it is a human problem -- we all desire to "perform" all the time. We perform in real life each time we seek to take the reins of our lives, failing to acknowledge that only God is sovereign. We perform when we greedily receive and hoard recognition -- failing to send the glory up to its only deserving recipient, our Master and Lord Jesus.  


King Herod made that mistake, as recorded in Acts 12:21: 

"On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, 

sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 

They shouted, 'This is the voice of a god, not of a man.' 

Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, 

an angel of the Lord struck him down, 

and he was eaten by worms and died." (NIV)

I, for one, find myself awestruck by this human tendency to usurp God's authority and to steal His glory. There have been so many blessings granted to me throughout my life. Yet, have I always paused to thank God for each one? When decisions come to be made, do I always consult my Master and Lord or do I quickly pounce on the plunder of opportunities?


No wonder time tends to slip through my fingers so quickly. God is counseling my heart to dare to do something different. He wants me to exercise patience as I interact with the life choices that come my way. He is interested in my willingness to watch Him perform through me as I surrender my agenda to His direction and will.


He is the only true performer because time is no match for Him. Christ is the One who does not slumber, who does not sleep. He is the only One who functions at the optimum efficiency. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is sovereign and He is majestic. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17, NIV


So, moving forward, let us reflect on Christ's performance. All that has happened on this earth has been the result of His handiwork -- professional markers, health issues, relational strides, spiritual drought, financial headway, emotional concerns. It should all inspire gratitude in us because, at the very center, Christ has been hard at work further fashioning us into His likeness, strengthening our faith, and maturing us to receive fullness of joy.  


What an astounding performer! 
What a skillful artist!


May God richly bless our eyes to spot His performance in our lives! May He prepare our hearts to joyfully participate in all that He has planned for us for the remainder of our time on this earth! May the memory of our past propel us to worship Jesus more readily, more ardently, and more gratefully! May Christ be our idol, the only God we revere!