To all my fellow Martha’s out there,
Thank you for all the food you have prepared, all the tables you have set, and the gifts you have given. You have blessed many people. Sitting is hard for you, and Jesus sees that. If “keeping busy” could be a middle name, it would be yours.
The need or habit of being busy can make it challenging to hear His voice speak in the silence. I live with a man who if Mary could be a man’s name, it would be his with capital letters. He can sit silently for hours, writing in his journal and reading his Bible. Then there is me, I have spent years feeling like I will never be enough as I can’t read my Bible endlessly nor write in my journal for hours. What a freeing revelation to discover that I am still loved by God and He loves me just as I am.
What I will do, is walk and talk to God, sweep and talk to God, listen to the Bible while I work doing whatever I am doing. I will for sure sit and read my Bible, but not like Mary. My walk with God differently.
Jesus loves Martha and I think if there is one thing He would want us to know it is this: it is ok to be busy, but we need to also listen for His voice even when we are doing what we do. When I came home from my run today, I was sitting in silence waiting to hear what God would have for me to write, and I heard nothing. I said to God, “Well, I am going to sweep the yard “ (my yard is all cement). Then, that is when I felt him say, write a Dear Martha blog.
Isaiah 40:31 tells all of us Mary or Martha, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint”. For the Martha’s reading this, our waiting may just look a little different, but the truth of this passage does not change.
God meets us as we wait and renews us. The passage in Scripture that I was thinking about as I wrote today was Luke 10:38-42. We meet a flustered and busy Martha, making a special meal for Jesus and whoever else was there. Yet, where is Mary? Sitting at Jesus’s feet oblivious to Martha and all the action of the kitchen. Martha was mad. I can understand that also. I would have felt exactly the same way as Martha but that was years ago. I have learned to let things go over the years. Mary discovered what mattered and Martha should have just planned differently - a simple meal that can be prepared when Jesus is finished.
Jesus is always wanting us to sit and be with him. This is a hard thing for us to do some days. There are times when I am excellent at sitting but not always.
If the disciples walked and talked with Jesus, so can we. They did not always sit and listen, but they also walked with Christ along the road all while hearing him speak.
So, to you my fellow Martha’s reading this, it’s ok. We are loved and all is well. Deep breaths! Things will work out, maybe not as perfectly as you had so carefully planned, but that is ok too, right?