Shakespeare once quoted: ‘All the world’s stage. And all the men and women merely players.’ What he means is that we are all living our lives on the frontstage, where things are visible and tangible. If we play with this idea, then we know that there is also a backstage. These are things that are not visible to the eye such as God and the Angels. Like a theater, God directs from behind the scenes. We see this ‘play’ taking shape throughout the Bible. For example, we see God and Satan discussing the life of Job from the backstage in the beginning of the book of Job. As we read on, we see things begin to unfold in the frontstage.
This of course raises some difficult personal questions for some of us who are facing hardships in the frontstage of our lives. For some of us life has turned hard in the areas of finance, death in the family, health issues and relationships. The year 2020 is another great example of the chaos that we have seen happening in the frontstage of our lives. You cannot but wonder: If God is directing the frontstage, then what in the world is happening backstage? There comes a temptation to question the sovereignty of God. If we are not careful, the trials of life can overwhelm us, and three things can begin to happen. We can live life like there is no backstage. We call these people Atheists or Agnostics. Or we can begin to makeup our own backstage to suit our personal needs. These are people who invent their own gods and religions. Finally, we can ignore the backstage. In this case, backstage doesn’t even matter. People in this category, stop going to Church and reading their bible. They stop talking to God.
It is important for us to keep a right perspective on the front and backstage in order to live faithfully in a chaotic world. A perspective that lets us know that God is ever present and working for our good and His glory.
Daniel understood this when he wrote Chapter 1 of the book of Daniel. Three times he mentions God’s involvement when life was chaotic in the frontstage. We read in the following verses that God gave Judah into the hand of Babylon (v. 2); God gave Daniel the favor and compassion of the palace master (v. 9); and that God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom to four young men which included Daniel.
God wants to give us a perspective that He is near to us and in control even when things are chaotic in the frontstage. Be encouraged to know that God is deeply involved in our personal lives from the backstage. We also learn that our God is faithful and continues to bless us by allowing us to thrive (not only survive) in what might be an impossible situation. Therefore, let us not live by what is visible in the frontstage but by faith; knowing that God is ever present and in control.
2 Cor. 5:7 – For we live by faith and not by sight.
Let us go with the mindset to be faithful to God because He is and will be faithful to us. Instead of questioning God’s sovereignty, let us rest in it. Like Daniel in chapter 1, let us thrive in a chaotic frontstage and not merely survive.