Mary Faith Versus Martha's Fall (and mine)
Funny story (this was the extra in my ordinary this week!!).....
I was taking dirty laundry to the garage on Wednesday night. I rounded the corner too quickly, stepped on a water puddle beside the dog's water bowl (on tile floors), and went barreling down to the floor and directly smacked my left knee on the tile as my ankle and toes were crunched in the process. It felt like slow motion, and as I laid there alone watching my knee swell and wondering if I was about to have to go to the ER,....I realized I fell because I was rushing, and trying to do too much on my own. Ouch. That realization hurt as much as my knee.
Talk about a wake up call. Doing too much by myself too fast = falling and getting hurt. !! I do this all the time. Do you? As women I think we have it in our DNA to multitask, and to try to get too much done, and then we get hurt.
Speaking of trying to do too much....have you read about Mary and Martha, when Martha invited Jesus over to her house? It went kind of like this:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, they came to a village where Martha invited them to come in. Jesus comes in and starts teaching to the group. Martha is so excited that they agreed to come, and decides to make a big dinner with much food. A little bit of food, or a one pot meal would have been enough, but to Martha that wasn't good enough. I'd probably have been the same way. If Jesus is coming into my house I'd clean for 2 weeks, and then cook for 3 days before. I can understand why Martha did what she did. Martha is a woman many of us can identify with. She's busy and is a pleaser; constantly wanting to make other's happy in her own way. But the Bible says in Luke 10: 40, "Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Distractions keep us from focusing on the better, more worthy issues.
So, Martha is very busy in the kitchen, but Martha's sister was not. She was a little different. Mary, Martha's sister, is not helping in the kitchen. Mary is so excited that Jesus is in her house, because she knows who Jesus is. She sits at his feet and listens to him. She is not distracted. She is focused on Jesus and increasing her faith. And her sister, Martha, notices that Mary is not helping and gets upset.
So she actually goes to Jesus to complain. This is not my favorite part of the story, because it reminds me of when I pray and whine to Jesus to help me get my to of list of 20 things done (when I know I'm trying to do too much).
Listen to what Jesus says. Remember Jesus speaks only complete truth and with complete wisdom.
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her".
WOW. Martha got told. I got told. You got told. Jesus says to stop trying to do too many things that don't matter, and focus more on what does matter, like listening to His words and trying to understand them. We just need to sit at his feet more (read the Bible) rather than trying to have a perfect house or make the perfect meal.
Also, I think part of the lesson is to slow down and pay attention when other people are in your house rather that being so busy in the kitchen trying to serve up too many courses. Go talk to your visitors. I'm so bad at this but I will try to do better.
Vowing to slow down and "choose what is better" (so I don't fall!!),
Tink
I was taking dirty laundry to the garage on Wednesday night. I rounded the corner too quickly, stepped on a water puddle beside the dog's water bowl (on tile floors), and went barreling down to the floor and directly smacked my left knee on the tile as my ankle and toes were crunched in the process. It felt like slow motion, and as I laid there alone watching my knee swell and wondering if I was about to have to go to the ER,....I realized I fell because I was rushing, and trying to do too much on my own. Ouch. That realization hurt as much as my knee.
Talk about a wake up call. Doing too much by myself too fast = falling and getting hurt. !! I do this all the time. Do you? As women I think we have it in our DNA to multitask, and to try to get too much done, and then we get hurt.
Speaking of trying to do too much....have you read about Mary and Martha, when Martha invited Jesus over to her house? It went kind of like this:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, they came to a village where Martha invited them to come in. Jesus comes in and starts teaching to the group. Martha is so excited that they agreed to come, and decides to make a big dinner with much food. A little bit of food, or a one pot meal would have been enough, but to Martha that wasn't good enough. I'd probably have been the same way. If Jesus is coming into my house I'd clean for 2 weeks, and then cook for 3 days before. I can understand why Martha did what she did. Martha is a woman many of us can identify with. She's busy and is a pleaser; constantly wanting to make other's happy in her own way. But the Bible says in Luke 10: 40, "Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Distractions keep us from focusing on the better, more worthy issues.
So, Martha is very busy in the kitchen, but Martha's sister was not. She was a little different. Mary, Martha's sister, is not helping in the kitchen. Mary is so excited that Jesus is in her house, because she knows who Jesus is. She sits at his feet and listens to him. She is not distracted. She is focused on Jesus and increasing her faith. And her sister, Martha, notices that Mary is not helping and gets upset.
So she actually goes to Jesus to complain. This is not my favorite part of the story, because it reminds me of when I pray and whine to Jesus to help me get my to of list of 20 things done (when I know I'm trying to do too much).
Listen to what Jesus says. Remember Jesus speaks only complete truth and with complete wisdom.
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her".
WOW. Martha got told. I got told. You got told. Jesus says to stop trying to do too many things that don't matter, and focus more on what does matter, like listening to His words and trying to understand them. We just need to sit at his feet more (read the Bible) rather than trying to have a perfect house or make the perfect meal.
Also, I think part of the lesson is to slow down and pay attention when other people are in your house rather that being so busy in the kitchen trying to serve up too many courses. Go talk to your visitors. I'm so bad at this but I will try to do better.
Vowing to slow down and "choose what is better" (so I don't fall!!),
Tink
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