[Written Sunday Oct 13]
This morning we attended church at Kingdom Impact Ministries in Livingstone, Zambia. Church was so great—it was very interactive and spirit-lead. The pastor had people come up this morning and share reasons why we are thankful and reasons we praise the Lord. Autum shared about God’s faithfulness and provision through the fundraising journey, I shared about keeping our gaze on the Lord and remembering to thank him for the blessings he gives us (even if it is something small like not getting eaten alive by mosquitos in the night or having power in the morning to make breakfast), Tiff shared about God’s divine romance and how he is always pursuing us even in the silence, and Calla shared her powerful testimony. Other members of the church also shared stories of how God provided, healed, and delivered them from troubled times (God sent a bird to one man’s family when he prayed for food after having not eaten in three days).
Pastor Fred’s message this morning came from Luke 10: 38-42 which says:
“While they were traveling, he [Jesus] entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.’ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’”
We can put our own names in the place of Martha’s. God is saying “Haley, Haley. You are worried and upset about many things, but only One thing is truly worth that much attention.” The simple message that Pastor Fred shared with us this morning is this: God is more interested in a relationship with us than service. He’s more interested in our being than in our doing. It is good to do good things for God, but our doing must come from our being otherwise our faith becomes works-based. There are many things we just do but are not out of a place of relationship. Often we get too caught up in things we need to do and our future and preparing for things and forget the most important thing of all–just spending time with Jesus.
In the words of Pastor Fred, “Don’t wind up loving ministry more than the One who owns the ministry. Sometimes we fall more in love with the pastor’s preaching and lose sight of the Lord. Let’s concentrate on building who I am before what I do. Because I love the Lord, I will serve the Lord.”
Martha, Martha (YOU), God is asking of one thing, and that one thing is to be at the feet of the master. Come back to the first love. Back to God.
With love,
Hals
