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“And
Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha,
Martha, thou art careful [full of care] and
troubled about many things:” (Luke 10:41)
One day Jesus
and His disciples were visiting in the home
of His friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
Mary sat near Jesus listening to His
teaching, but Martha busied herself with
making preparations to serve her guests.
No doubt she prepared choice dishes and
spread a feast for their enjoyment. She
stopped just long enough to complain to
Jesus that Mary wasn’t helping her and
requested that He reprimand her.
Let’s assume
that Martha really felt she needed help in
the kitchen and that it was Mary’s duty to
help out. But Jesus took the opportunity to
look into Martha’s real problem that was
causing her to be frustrated. His response
was essentially, “Martha, it’s not just this
meal that you are lovingly preparing for us
that is causing you to feel tension; you are
troubled and burdened with care about
many things. Mary has chosen the
good part which will affect her life in a
positive way.”
Jesus didn’t
love Martha less than Mary. He would have
been pleased to have both of them sit at his
feet and listen to words of eternal life.
He wanted Martha to see that she could have
a better life if she listened to His
teaching and learned about eternal things
and worried less. Apparently Mary was
sensitive to attend to the spiritual side of
life.
When we allow
ourselves to get tangled up with worry and
care, we set ourselves up to live a
frustrated life. Everything that confronts
us will be magnified and burdensome. Jesus
perceived that Martha allowed everything to
bother her, and it resulted in stirring up
resentment against her sister, Mary.
Habitual
worrying is like fly paper; everything that
isn’t “smooth sailing” will stick and push
our worry button to be troubled more. That
is a tactic of the devil! We can’t be
troubled and have faith at the same time.
Faith dissolves worry into trust.
Someone has
said the devil sets us up to upset us, and
he is a master at that. He plants things to
worry about in our mind and “encourages” us
to be discouraged. He knows that will
defeat a victorious life.
If a problem
has no solution, it may not be a problem,
but a fact—not to be solved, but to cope
with over time (to “bear it”). We don’t
always get deliverance from trouble, but the
Lord will never leave us to bear burdens
alone. He said His grace was sufficient;
His strength is more than enough to enable
us to bear what He doesn’t remove.
“Make the least
of all that goes and the most of all that
comes.”
Mary knew where
to find peace and contentment—at the feet of
Jesus. Luke told of a sinful woman who wept
at His feet. Mary worshipped at his feet.
Nicodemus sought Jesus to sit at His feet;
the Samaritan woman brought the town folks
to hear what Jesus had to say. Multitudes
sat long hours, leaving their chores undone,
to listen to Jesus. We would do well to do
the same.
So many things
vie for our attention that it is difficult
to turn their volume down enough to hear the
Lord’s voice. It takes discipline to
have a quiet time with Jesus, take a walk
into His Word and hear what He wants to tell
us; but it surely would make life so much
better if we would deliberately enter into
His presence regularly, not waiting until a
crisis hits us to cry “Help!”
Worry:
German=to strangle as a noose; Greek=to
divide the mind in distractions (Max Lacado).
Worry is a “joy robber.”
“The last time
I checked He [Christ] was looking for a
bride, not a girlfriend. One who will stick
with Him” (Tommy Tenny in “The God Chasers”)
Our Lord is
looking for commitment and real intimacy.
He wants us trust Him more than we do
anyone, including ourselves. He is looking
for one who is not fickle but who is loyal
and devoted 24/7. You see, the Lord said…”
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”
(Hebrews 13:5). He is always faithful.
I confess that
I am a “detail” person and sometimes that
makes me a “Martha, Martha.” When we
recognize that trait, it needs remediation.
If we don’t correct it, it will not only be
a burden to us, it will be burdensome to
everyone around us. Furthermore, it will
rob us of the peace that comes with “casting
all your care on him; for he careth for you”
(1Peter 5:7).
A “Martha,
Martha attitude” knows no gender, class, age
or race. It’s a condition that can afflict
anyone. There is only one remedy, and that
is to be a “Mary” who lingers at the feet of
Jesus where faith is increased and blessings
flow.
Let us not stay
on “Martha, Martha” ground, but let us climb
out of worry and care to sit at Jesus’ feet
where peace and victory abide!
“Therefore will
not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the
midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
There is a river, the streams whereof shall
make glad the city of God, the holy place of
the tabernacles of the most High. God is in
the midst of her; she shall not be moved.
God shall help her, and that right early”
(Psalm 46:3-5).
~~Delores~~
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