I found this today on my google reader from InCourage – one of my new favorite things filling my reader.  It spoke to me in such a clear way.  It is no news to anyone who semi knows me – you dont even have to know me well to know this fact about me.  If there is a biblical character that I identify with at all, its MARTHA.  Full blow, every characteristic, if she were living now, she would be my best friend…well maybe not, but my Doppleganger for sure!

Case in point – when I was in OKC for Kate’s birthday last weekend, I found myself worried about the details and the kitchen more than the events going on in the dining room.  I cant help it.  Its how God made me!  Yet, I find myself all too often hearing the voice from the other room beconing me to to just come and sit – come and rest.  I never understood how my sister could just sit.  You know with so many things necessary to be done, she can just sit there!  I dont get it.  But sometimes in life, God gives you an outward glimpse of yourself.  Whether through a movie, another person in your life, or written word, He reminds you of how much He desires time with you.  And, today, when I read these words, it reminded me.  The quiet moments He gives me are ok.  I dont have to be “doing” something all the time.  I dont have to busy all the time.  And, for whatever reason, He is giving me a huge blessing of some quiet moments in the evenings.  So, I feel that I really need to take advantage and beckon my heart to His and rest. 

Hey Martha’s are you with me?

Again, these words are from the InCourage blog and posted here (If you need your daily ounce of “other poeple who understand you”, I encourage you to add this one to your daily portion!):

**I was made to plan and organize.

That’s what I do best. Give me a sticky problem and I’ll find a solution. I’ll set up a check list and organize the workers and get the job done quickly and efficiently.

Really. That’s how my brain works.

My reaction, when I’m faced with a predicament, is to analyze, determine the best course of action, and then implement it.

I don’t think things should just be left to themselves.

They need to be dealt with, planned for, and finalized.

How does that phrase go? Ah, yes! Divine interruption.

Or, “Divine, set me back on my heels and tell me to sit down and just listen”.

Martha is memorialized in the Bible because she approached Jesus and asked him to tell her sister Mary to get up and help her in the kitchen. She was, after all, doing what she did best – taking care of her guests by planning and executing.

Cooking, cleaning, serving. Much needed and necessary duties.

Mary, on the other hand, is memorialized in the same Bible, indeed in the same passage of scripture because she wasn’t doing anything at all – just sitting at Jesus’ feet and drinking in the life-altering words he was speaking.

I’m thinking that Martha, for all her hard work utilizing her greatest gift – that of organizing and serving – missed something that day, so Jesus reminded her of just what it was.

There comes a time when Jesus just wants us to sit down at his feet and listen. Absorb his love, his words, his heart.

I can guarantee you that if Martha would have asked if she could just sit there too instead of fixing the meal, Jesus would have fixed the meal for them all, just like he multiplied the loaves and fishes.

Because checklists and timeframes are no big deal to him. Changing lives is.

For me, just like Martha, it’s very hard to fold my hands, rest my mind, and let Jesus take care of the planning. The greatest breakthroughs are always at those times of quiet and submission at the feet of the One.

So, I’m sitting quietly and listening. Listening to that still, small voice.

I’ve dusted off my hands, and left the mess in the kitchen to be dealt with later. I’m resting my mind from its incessant checklists and timeframes, and I’m sitting comfortably at the feet of Jesus.

Tell me again just how much you love me. Tell me again just how much you love us all. Tell me one more time, please.

Expand my heart. Expand my reach. Expand my influence.

Until all the world knows

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha”, the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
~ Luke 10:38-42