September 25, 2021
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
~Luke 10:40~
Ah, the Martha and Mary story. We have heard this one a few times I am sure. Whether it was a church sermon or we compared ourselves to one of these ladies as we felt a similiar connection either to Martha or to Mary. Now you don't have to be a woman to relate to this situation. Men and women the same can get easily bogged down by their own distractions. We are all capable of making ourselves too busy while we blame our fatigue on someone else for not helping. This is all too common, especially in our nation. Time seems to be speeding up and so do people. We run to and fro trying to cram as much into one day as we can. We attempt to plan out our own days without consulting the Lord if what we have in mind is what He has in mind. "There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21)
We must seek counsel in our Father while starting our day. It is most important in keeping ourselves from being burnt out.
Our enemy wants the stress to weigh us down, he loves when we do too much at once. The Lord came to Martha and Mary and as Mary took the time to be at Jesus' feet, Martha criticized her for not helping her. Martha's own stress began to be unleashed on her sister. We overwhelm ourselves and we lash out to those who had nothing to do with it. It is a vicious circle. A game built by the devil. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
(Matthew 24:35)
The things we fill our days with are temporary, while Jesus is forever. Mary was focused on the One who gave her what is eternal. Martha was focusing on the temporary. Which do you believe will bring genuine peace and satisfaction? Martha was stirred up with trying to serve Jesus when all He wanted was for her to be with Him. Often times we will over work ourselves to earn the Father's attention when, in fact, we already have His attention and relationship is what He looks for; "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit."
(Titus 3:5)
It is time to slow down and focus our eyes on Jesus who gives us these days. He longs for us to take those times to just sit at His feet and be with Him. There is more importance to resting in Him then rushing ourselves to please Him. It is not the Lord's will that we are stressed out, tired out and blaming others for what we choose to do. He loves us and wants us to sulk in that love. He adores His children's rejuvenation. Take it from me who has learned the hard way to be put in my place when I over worked myself. The Lord will chasten us one way or another just as He did Martha, out of pure love.
"You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you." (Deuteronomy 8:5)
If we are feeling like Martha right now; pointing fingers at someone else who we think is the reason we feel burnt out, the Lord invites us to take a step back and sit with Him. Seek what our motives are. Let us not become distracted by that which passes away, but press into that which is eternal. We cannot love others if we do not love ourselves enough to take it easy and rest in Him. Jesus will prepare our days, its not up to us to do so. I know there are moments to work and moments to serve; but Jesus looks for us to come to Him first and ask what we should be doing so that we are careful what we do is not over use of our time and energy. When one is worn out they are not joyful. God wants our joy to be full. Come to Jesus' feet and rest. This world is full of too many distractions.
Prayer:
Lord God, thank you for Your manifest presence of love and peace that surrounds me. I choose to come to You first each day to hear how You want me to walk the day out, not how I want to. I focus my eyes on that which is eternal not which is temporary. Forgive me O Lord when I may have blamed others for my own ways. I adore You my King, I long to sit at Your feet and gaze upon the brightness of Your countenance. Lord, I praise You for being patient with me when I over work myself. I give myself to You in alignment. Lead me in what I need to accomplish today. I lay down my burdens at Your feet, in Your Name I pray. Jesus Christ. Amen.