The Performance Trap

I know you’ve done the same act in the same ring. You and I are on a unicycle wearing too many hats and juggling way too many balls. Round and round we go. All eyes are on us now, and we don’t want to let anyone down—especially those who are sitting at our own table.
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Tirelessly, we keep up the same act, which some days seems treacherously 

repetitive, and others completely exhausting. It’s not that we don’t love what we do, but the pressure of performing is almost too much to bear. Sweet fellow sisters, can we all take a deep breath for just a moment? Let me look you in that beautiful face and tell you, “You are more than enough through Christ!”

​You don’t just barely squeak by on the “approval meter.” You are altogether more than enough!

These words, to me, feel like rain on a parched land. They make me inhale, not just deeply in, but exhale out as well.

I am more than enough . . .

We can put that unicycle away now.

Honestly, I can blame a million things, people, or places for the pressure of performance in ministry that I’ve felt along the years, but recently I’ve discovered that most of the pressure has come from within. I’ve exhausted myself trying to strive to keep it all together. My “doing” has trumped my “being,” and I’ve been left trampled in return.

Last year, God asked me to enter a year of rest. The longer story may be how hard it was to finally comply, but I went through a complete and total undoing the first several months. Taking a break from the juggling act was killing me because I have now discovered it’s where I had for so long found my worth.

Who am I if I’m not doing all these things?

What worth do I have if I’m not helping or leading something?

I’m surely just a giant disappointment—to any and everyone, but especially the One who called me. Or was I really called?

In all honesty, approval grew silent from all in my life but a few entrusted souls—until heaven suddenly got louder. It was as if His applause was going wild over my being. For the first time in my life I was discovering what it meant to be loved and valued “just because!” I had become excellent at being a doer, but forgotten to be a daughter. One of my favorite passages about the Father is when He wildly and proudly exclaimed over Jesus, “This is my beloved Son; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, NIV). Jesus hadn’t begun His public ministry yet; no one knew His name or followed His miraculous feats—but His Father was so proud and so pleased. Just because.

His pleasure and approval in my life is overflowing, and I’ve learned to just calm down. I’m living, and doing, and walking out of a place of rest these days. No longer do I feel the tremendous pressure to perform, to get it right, to keep the balls flying high. I’m learning to just wear one hat—the hat of “sonship.” It was a process which required a whole lot of undoing and maybe squirming for a bit, while people couldn’t understand why you’re no longer “doing” that thing, but it’s worth it.
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My closest friend once told me as I struggled to let some things go, “Sons don’t put on a show; they live wildly from acceptance.” The pressure’s all off now. We only have one set of eyes to please—and He’s already crazy about us!

Discussion Questions:

1. What are some pressures of performance in your life and where do they come from?
2. If you listed all your activities and responsibilities, which ones would be hard to "undo" and why? Which ones would be easy to "undo" and why?

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By Rachel Peters| April 25th, 2017
​Read full article here at Her Green Room.