As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the worked? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it -and I won’t take it away from her.
Luke 10:38-42
Our family had a foster child, a while back, who I was certain God didn’t want us to bring into our home. He was a baby and we were out of the baby stage. A long time out! Summer was approaching which meant 4 kids home all day every day, ball diamonds 3-4 nights a week, water wednesdays, and vacations. I told my caseworker that I would discuss it with the family and knew in my heart that I should pray about it. I was absolutely sure that there was no way God wanted us to keep a baby, there was no way we were capable of taking on that task. I’m sure, by now, you all know where this is going.......yes we invited a 6 month old beautiful baby into our home and it was an amazing experience, but this isn’t the point of my writing. When I prayed for God’s guidance, in this particular situation, you better bet He spoke directly to my heart on 4 different occasions by the deadline that I gave Him. And even more important, was the concern I voiced with Him regarding our quiet time. In no way did I want to take on this huge responsibility if it was going to keep me from having my personal time with God. Well, of course, He was absolutely faithful to uphold His end of the bargain ;)
In this scripture Martha is complaining to Jesus because she was doing all the work. I’m guessing for her to complain it was something that had been eating at her for some time. In present day it may look something like this.....Martha taught Sunday school, she helped in the food pantry and she volunteered at the local crisis shelter once a week and she worked in the church nursery every other week. Mary, on the other hand, occasionally helped in the nursery, but didn’t feel a calling to help in the food pantry, she, instead spent much time in prayer interceding for others and spending time getting to know God on a personal level. Martha, being so busy with all of her activities, has no time to sit and have quiet time. Martha is tired of doing all of the work and hasn’t had time to sit with God and find out His current call on her heart. When Martha approaches Jesus and begins to complain, He quickly defends Mary stating that she was happy and she understood the most important detail in life, spending time with Him. Martha was serving God so how could she be in the wrong? This is the hard part........it is possible to do a good thing but it not be the right thing for your life. It is possible to run your life so crazy with activities, good things like bible studies and volunteering, but miss the true calling God has for you.
When I got the call to take this baby my heart said no but my God said yes and my big concern was my selfish need for quiet time with God. Looking back I don’t even know why I was worried about it. If God called me to do this job He would absolutely make sure I had time for us to be together. I guess where I am going with all of this is that too often we get too busy doing things for God that we don't take time to be with Him. There was a point in my life that I would have said yes to this and many other "good" things because I thought that's what a Christian did and that's as deep as it would get. I wouldn't ask God what He wanted or where He wanted me. I rarely let those things draw me closer to God but they sure kept me busy........away from my family and away from Him. I don’t doubt that many of the things you are busy with are “good” things. But, God needs to know you, and more importantly, you need to know God. If you are too busy for a relationship with Him you need to step back and reevaluate your life. How will you ever know your calling and God’s plan for you if you don’t ever take the time to talk to Him and ask Him? Yes, a “good” opportunity may approach you, but unless you pray about it and walk closely with God, saying yes to it may not be God’s plan for your life. Absolutely, God asks us to help the poor, and take care of the children and minister to the lost but it has to be in His plan for our life and unless He calls us to do it, it can be the wrong thing for us. Better than serving Him, God wanted Martha to understand the importance of sitting still with Him. That even though what she was doing was a good thing, it was still wrong in that moment and she missed out on a beautiful opportunity to know Him better. How many blessings have you missed out on because you thought you were doing the right thing? Instead of "thinking" you are doing the right thing, spend time with God and know that you are doing the right thing. Don't miss out on the blessings He has for you. Get to know God and then your services will flourish. True service to God comes from knowing His plan for your life and living in His will.
Dear God,
I pray that my friends reading today would hear you speak directly to their hearts through the words you have led me to write. I want you to draw them near to you and invite them to sit with you a while. Please drown out all the concerns for their busy day ahead and help them to focus on You and Your plan. Help them to put you first on their minds and to understand the importance of knowing you over serving you.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
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