Only One Thing

Yesterday I had some time to reflect and I was looking back over the past 8 or 10 months of my life. I was just thinking about what we have been doing and where we are in life right now. It seems like these most recent weeks have been filled with so much stress, aggravation and frustration.

So while I was reflecting, I asked God, "What's the deal? How come I don't feel like I am hearing You the way I was not so long ago?"

I felt the Lord say to me "Rachel, Rachel."

That was all I needed. My mind was immediately take to the passage of scripture where Jesus is in Martha's home. Martha is in the kitchen cookin' up a storm! ( And who could blame her, it's not like Jesus traveled alone, and who knows how much advance notice she had!) And Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus hanging on every word that falls from His lips.

In the meantime, Martha has had just about all she can take and she comes and wants Jesus to reprimand her sister for being lazy and not helping out. Oh, how many times do I want Jesus to scold someone in my life because of the work I see in front of me that needs to be done!

But Jesus doesn't respond quite how Martha was expecting. He lovingly says, Martha, sweet Martha, You're right! You are stressed! But Mary has found the only thing that needs attention right now.

I knew immediately Jesus was saying to me; "Your right! You are stressed and worried about many things." And of coarse He's right. We have taken a small break from school for the summer and I have managed to fill up that time with lots of other worries and neglected my time at His feet.

So here I am again, amazed at how easily I get thrown off track and distracted. There really is work to be done in my kitchen. There are people here who are expecting a meal soon. And from my limited perspective, just like Martha, that meal feels like all that matters.

But I see now that when I have not set at His feet enough to be filled and refilled with Him, catching His every word, my thought process goes very awry. Some weird sense of worth rises up as if my service to Him is worthy of more attention than He Himself, and my God given responsibilities become chores of obligation instead of opportunities for acts of worship.

Here is the passage of scripture from the New Living Translation:

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by 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 work? Tell her to come and help me.”

But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42

Thank you Jesus that You really do come into my home. You are so welcome here! I truly am so honored to serve You. Thank you for your patience with me as I so easily get upset and worried and distracted from Your presence. Forgive me for my pride, wrong thinking and judgemental attitude. Who am I that You are mindful of me? Help me too, to find the only thing worth being concerned about. I don't want to miss another word You speak.