A Little Worker Bee

This weekend, we had the opportunity to see a stage production of David with friends, which tells the story of King David's life. Beforehand, we got to spend some time together as a family eating (and maniacally giggling, much to the chagrin of the lady in the booth behind us).

It was a fun time, one of those memories I'll cling to as my daughter rudely grows up and continues to have a life of her own (I don't remember signing off on that, but whatevs).

But the coolest thing? God talked to me during the play.

You see, a day or two before that, a good writer friend and sister in Christ wrote me an email (we kinda sorta pen pal around, like, as my daughter would say, "in the olden days"). She mentioned it’s not our duty to advance the Kingdom of God on earth. Instead, we're to make disciples as God brings down the Kingdom to earth, taking that burden off our shoulders (as if we even have the jurisdiction or ability to do so in the first place!).

And the cool thing is that the character of the Prophet Nathan in the play said the same thing to David! That the reason his life was starting to unravel was because he was trying to further God's Kingdom instead of resting in His peace.

But that's not all, folks! That evening before bed, we were listening to Exploring My Strange Bible by Dr. Tim Mackie, and he mentioned that with the advent of the social Gospel movement (1870-1920), there was a shift in how people spoke about the Kingdom. Instead of followers entering into it or it being bestowed upon us, Christians started saying things like "building the Kingdom of God," as if God should be so lucky that we would help Him out in this endeavor.

*Snort.*

No wonder I was so overly exhausted in the last season of my faith journey! I was ascribing to a belief that I had to be a little worker bee to usher in something God's got fully under control.

Fortunately, I see this now, and never before have I had so much peace, just abiding in Jesus and listening for the Spirit's cues on what good works He personally has for me, instead of trying to "prove" my commitment to Him and the Church by doing everything under the sun.

I share this because I know, at one time or another, we (especially us Americans) tend to shift into "hustle" mode, thinking our destinies fully depend on our hard work. But the "American Dream" is a total lie, something that once achieved is a dark disappointment, leading to the realization that all this time we've been striving to do something "good," we've wasted our lives pursuing something that doesn't even matter.

Instead? We can rest in Him and be thankful we get to participate in His Kingdom because of what He's done for us, and never the other way around.