Have you ever been busy? Have you ever been “that” person when someone asks “How are you?” the first response you have is “busy” ? Oh good, I’m not alone…
For those of you that have ever attended Wellspring on a Sunday morning, you know we’re a portable church. That means, each Sunday, a team of awesome volunteers come in at 6am and help set up speakers, tables, signage and our Well Kids area. It’s a huge operation and takes a lot of people. I personally help on our production team and needless to say, sometimes Sundays are a blur.
I remember one Sunday morning during setup I had one of our volunteers from our Guest Experience team come to me and say, “Hey, there's a guy out in the hallway that asked for you by name and wants to talk to you. He said he’s struggling.” Well in the busyness of that morning I told her I could talk to him after our service. Well, service came and went and I totally forgot about. On my way home I called a Guest Experience volunteer and asked about him. She said “Yes, he hung around after service for a bit but then left”. I blew it, I missed an opportunity. I was so wrapped up in doing good things I missed an opportunity to do the best thing, help someone who was struggling. To this day, that guy is on my mind. Have you ever had something similar happen to you?
Have you ever been too busy? Have you ever been distracted? I know for a lot of us things like our kids, family, sports and our jobs can load up our calendar so much we have no time. The trouble with those things is, they’re not bad things, but are they the best things? Have we scheduled our life to prioritize the things that matter most? Or are we too busy? Let’s look at a story from Luke and see if we can discover some helpful insight!
"Have we scheduled our life to prioritize the things that matter most?"
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But 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.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” ~Luke 10:38-42
Ok, real talk, there are so many things we can take from this story but let's just observe a few.
1. Martha didn’t understand why her priorities didn’t align with Jesus’
With suddenly having a house full of company (we believe Jesus had a crowd of people with Him), Martha was running around the house doing GOOD things. At this moment, her calendar was full of cleaning, making food and taking care of her company, this was her priority. But was it Jesus’? You see, Martha had neglected her top priority, simply Jesus. For those of us that are followers of Jesus, He should always be our top priority in our calendar just like Mary made Him. Have you ever been guilty of this? I know I have. At this moment Martha had a choice to leave the sink full of dirty dishes and make Jesus the priority in her calendar but missed it.
"He should always be our top priority in our calendar just like Mary made Him."
2. In our anxiety, we question Jesus
Next, we see Jesus confront Martha about her anxiety. It’s funny how when we’re confronted about how busy we are and maybe even that we need to give up a good thing for a better thing, Jesus, we’re flooded with anxiety and start questioning, even Jesus.
Jesus is calling Martha and us to make him the priority, to cast our burdens, worries, and anxieties on him because ultimately, He can handle it better than we can. Let’s not give in to our anxiety about saying no to some good things in order to say yes to the best thing, Jesus.
"to cast our burdens, worries, and anxieties on him because ultimately, He can handle it"
3. Our busyness tends to be more about us, then Jesus
Lastly, Martha was so busy with her calendar and task list, there simply wasn’t any room left for Jesus himself. Martha was so busy with her HOW for Jesus she missed her WOW of Jesus. Simply, that being with Jesus was the most important thing. How about you? When you look at your calendar and task list, is there any room for Jesus? Spending time with him in prayer, reading the bible or resting in who Jesus is and what He’s done for you?
"When you look at your calendar and task list, is there any room for Jesus?"
I know for me personally, I have been Martha so many times. I’ve blasted through a week and looked back and said, Jesus wasn’t anywhere in it. Yes, maybe I was doing “good” things but I hadn’t taken any time to simply rest and spend time with Jesus.
"Take ten minutes each day for the next 7 days and STOP. REST. LISTEN."
My challenge for you and myself is TAKE TEN. Take ten minutes each day for the next 7 days and STOP. REST. LISTEN. Some of us are morning people, some evening. But find ten minutes each day to simply rest, pray, read some of the Bible (Our Bible Reading Plan) and listen for what Jesus is trying to tell you. Jesus is the most important thing in our lives, He loves you, cares for you and even died for you. In our busyness, let’s move past our HOW for Jesus and not miss the WOW of Jesus. Trust me, he’s worth it.
"let’s move past our HOW for Jesus and not miss the WOW of Jesus."
Written by Graeme Wilson,
Communication for Wellspring Church
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