All my life, theatre has been something that I’m very passionate about. The lights, costumes, makeup, singing, dancing, rehearsals, line memorizing, (the butterflies of excitement I get right before I walk on stage) all of it! My freshman year of high school, I was so excited to audition for my first high school play. The Breakfast Club, one of my all time favorite movies! I wanted more than anything to play Claire, and I was so confident in my audition and already looking forward to getting that role. On the morning that the cast list was released, I raced to the drama room to see if I made the part. To my despair, I didn’t make the part! Or any part for that matter! I was crushed. I was so envious of everyone who made the cast, but I still wanted to be apart of the show, so I decided to work backstage.
During the entirety of the play, I had a newfound appreciation for my fellow, (and future) crew members. We worked on lights, costumes, sets, and so much more! I had never realized how much actually went into a production, and how hard the crew members worked to make the actors look good. A lot of the work we put in would never be noticed by the audience, but it was very humbling to not be in the spotlight for once. It made me even more passionate about theatre, and I learned so much through an experience that I was at first devastated about.
I love when Jesus teaches us through things that we’re passionate about. He’s so personal. He cares about the things that we care about, and uses those things for His glory. The past week, one of my squad mates (shout out to Aaron, you’re a real one) airdropped me the entire video recording of the musical, Hamilton. Oh yes, you heard me correctly. If you know me, this is a big deal. This is my favorite musical of ALL time. After years of being absolutely in love with this musical, AND knowing ALL 46 raps by heart, I finally got to watch it!!!! (totally not legally but hey, we’re just not gonna talk about that) It really got me thinking about my old theatre group and the dynamic of our shows. The memories. The hardships we faced. The fun. Then it hit me, God is just like the backstage crew! It’s kind of a silly analogy, but it made so much sense to me!
Since we’ve been doing a lot of manual labor this month, it’s very easy to lose sight of God’s plan and his intentionality in our circumstances. But a lot of the times, what God is doing isn’t always obvious or right in our face. But just because we can’t see it, does that mean He isn’t doing anything? Not at all! He works behind the scenes. He does so much work that we might not possibly ever see or even be able to understand, in order to make everything happen. In the moment, when you can’t necessarily understand why God has you where you are, it’s so tempting to think that He isn’t working, or question His plan or even His character. But so often, when I look back on past circumstances, no matter the outcome, I realize that His fingerprints were all over the situation the whole time! The audience is the world, the play is the good news of the Gospel, the actors are us, and He’s the crew that empowers us to point everything back to Him! Again, this is such a silly analogy, especially if you don’t or have never done theatre, but He’s used this silly analogy to show me just a tiny bit of how He works. I know that even in times when it feels like God is distant, He is still working in my life, I just may not be able to see it!
So, with all that being said, here’s some encouragement to my fellow cast (yes, keeping the analogy going, please just bare with me). Our lives should always point others back to Jesus, and everything we do should glorify Him. When the audience sees us, they shouldn’t be confused or misled by the story line. They should be able to see Jesus and the radical love story between God and His people. While we will mess up, (that’s a guarantee) we should strive to be a representation of Christ, and when the curtain closes, we should be able to say with confidence that we did everything we could to put on the best show.
Thank you so much for reading!! xx Tay Morg
