...Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42
Distractions. They are everywhere. I’m distracted by my to-do list. It seems to grow a little everyday. But even though it’s long, I’ve decided I needed to add two more tasks to my daily MUST-DO list. One of these is time spent at the feet of Jesus, soaking up his Word.
After marriage, I began serving my husband. Not overwhelming, I still had time for me. Then my children were born and I am suddenly consumed with serving. As infants and toddlers I served as their chef, doctor, educator, life coach, chauffeur, etc. You mamas know, the serving never ends, right? Did you know that at that age they need your attention every 4 minutes? I digress, though. All this and I still try to serve my husband too. Way overwhelming and very little time for me. When they went to school, I went to work. So now I’m consumed with serving my husband, my children and my workplace. Can you see this spiraling out of control a little? But somehow I manage a schedule, no one is starving and everyone is usually where they need to be. But I’m lacking in the me time area. I’m so tired by 10 pm each night I struggle to work in one more thing, so I say my prayers and find some rest.
This school term we’ve had some changes. Both children are at new schools and because I have to drop them off early I have an hour before I have to be at work. I had all kinds of plans for that hour. Physical activity was one, but who wants to go to work hot and sweaty?! So strike that... then I thought I could go to the coffee shop and work on church posts. Did y’all know that the coffee shop is loud and not really conducive to quiet thinking? Everyone should be quiet before 10 am... just my humble opinion! ;) Not to mention spending money every single morning is going to blow the budget! Or maybe I should just go into work an hour early to catch up on filing (it’s the one thing I’m always behind on!!) All those are great, but then I thought, why don’t I spend that time with Jesus. Yes! Time for the thing that I’ve not been very faithful in with my busy schedule.
So for the past few mornings I’ve devoted that hour to studying the Word of God. I was so proud of me for committing to this, but can I be truthful and say that it’s been really difficult? Not the study itself, but the sitting still. For the past 11 years I have been the Martha. Busy, doing what needed to be done. I would briefly visit with Jesus or read his Word when I read to the kids or during the 1 minute devotion. But this week I have chosen to start my day sitting at the feet of Jesus. And it’s hard just sitting there! It’s a challenge to reign in the thoughts of what is next on my list or what I could be doing instead of sitting still. But I remind myself that this is the “good thing”. This is what I need to do. This is the thing that I am choosing to do and I refuse to let my Martha spirit take that away from me. I am a work in progress. This is my current struggle. But I will victoriously continue choosing the good thing.
What about you? What keeps you from sitting at the feet of Jesus?
What is one thing you do to help you do the good thing?