In this season of my life when all I can think about is raising support for this trip, God in his faithful is still teaching me lessons.
Most of the time on my 40 minute commute, I drive in silence. But this day was different, I just wanted to listen to some music and jam out on the ride home. I tuned into the local christian worship station as the song was fading out. The DJ broke the silence and gave an encouraging word for this busy holiday season. He told the listening audience to remember to not get caught up in the business of the holidays and forget about what the season was really for; to be thankful and celebrate our Saviors birth.
He used the example of Mary and Martha found (here). I had heard this story so many times and had heard spoken on the same exact way every time. Martha busy in the kitchen doing what busy people do and Mary setting at the feet of Jesus.
To break down the passage, we see Martha welcoming Jesus into her home and once there she works hard to make sure everything is perfect and right for him. (side note! Jesus does not want everything to be perfect in our lives when we call him in, he just wants us. no charge for that one) We also see Mary setting at the feet of Jesus and Martha gets upset that Mary does not help with the work. Martha confronts Jesus with her anger and he tells like it is. The only thing that really is important is Me. touché
Being in the season I am in right now, I took something totally different from this story for the first time. At the risk of being called a heretic, sometimes I believe we discount some of the people of the Bible and what they could mean in our lives today.
Knowing what Jesus said to Martha, I totally believe that in the busyness of life we can not lose our sight of Christ and what he did for us. He has to be the center. I also believe in having faith for anything and trusting God to provide you needs.
But this is where I think I have been getting it slightly wrong. In James it tell us that we can have faith and that we can have works. They can both work independently or together, but best together. It continues on saying faith without works is dead. And that is where I believe we often leave off, believing for something to happen but not really searching for it, working for it, or taking ahold of it because it is not how we expected God to fulfill the need in our lives.
With keeping Jesus at the center of our lives, there will be season where we are to be marys and there is season of being marthas. We must believe that Jesus will make away for us, but sometimes that means taking his word and putting it into action. We sometime find ourselves setting on our tails wonder way God has not came through for us when really He has put opportunity after opportunity for us and we just have not taken it.
If you are feeling convected, don’t worry, ME TOO!
I think back to this story I had heard along time ago.
A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up!” But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
Bringing it back to the story of Mary and Martha, we can not discount the work of Martha, We can only discount why she was doing the work and her unhealthy heart issue of asking why her sister was not helping. There will be times of life of where we will have to run with God’s word and meet him at our blessing and sometimes we can and will have set at the feet of Jesus and have his blessing poured on us. But do not be afraid to do either or both.
In you life right now ask yourself what do you want God to do in your life and what blessing are you believing for. Is it a run with him to get Martha blessing or is it a sit and receive Mary blessing, and are you doing your part to get to the blessing if it be running or setting.
