“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. I have grown up with this scripture and am very familiar with it. However, I have not had cause to test it until now.
I am a tai chi teacher who loves what I do. I have been teaching for five months now and have learned to love the people whom I serve. Tuesdays and Thursdays, without fail, I am in the studio practicing and then instructing a small group of dedicated students. I love watching them grow and progress; seeing them gain confidence and grace. They have been my highest priority and many other things are set aside until after class. Until I questioned what is more important?
Every month during the school year my home school group has a temple baptism trip. I love going to the temple and love the spirit that I feel there. But this year the temple trips have been scheduled in a way that infringes on my teaching time. I was faced with a choice: the temple or tai chi?
The argument played back and forth in my head: go to the temple, that is the most important thing. No, I made a commitment to those people. Besides, I'm serving! For days I debated back and forth and all the time that scripture from Matthew ran itself through my mind, “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God.” I was angry, easily frustrated and stressed until finally I made up my mind: Reschedule class for that day and go to the temple as we are counseled to do.
The peace was instantaneous. I felt resolved and strong, knowing that all would work out according to the Lord's plan. I do not yet know how everything will fall into place but I know that it will. The Lord will grant me the strength, the time and the knowledge to do His work and to be all that I can be. I leave this witness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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