Luke 10:38-42
Martha and Mary
38 While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him (Yeshua) into her home.[m] 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at His[n] feet and was listening to what He said.[o] 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”[p]
[Yeshua] answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Almost every morning, I am faced abruptly with a heavy worry towards the day’s tasks and schedule. A weight pressuring me to think only of things needing done, which immediately causes an overwhelmed feeling at the start of the day, distracting me from what is most important– my relationship with YHWH and doing His will. Thankfully, this passage of Scripture above was brought to my attention a few times by a lovely sister in Messiah. Thank you!
So, with all these tasks circling around in my head, am I stopping them to trust Him? Or am I allowing them to keep my mind occupied, while I chew all my nails off?
- First and foremost, I need to remember that if Yah desires me to finish all these tasks in one day, He will strengthen me to do so, but if not, He won’t- whether I really want to do it all or not. Sometimes I even get lost in my own pride, wanting to have a completed “checked-off” to-do list just to see what I have accomplished.
- Second, even if I was unable to get anything done or done right, as long as I took time to sit at His feet and seek Him that day, I feel He would be pleased and that I have done His will rather than my own.
- Third, it’s about your motives… the how you go about your day and work on things. When I am going about the day worried, fearing I won’t get things done and running off of human effort and no trust, it causes issues…. in my heart, thought patterns, stress levels… priorities out of order (ex. putting my to-do list before loving my husband), grieving the Holy Spirit, not hearing Yah if He speaks or corrects… so many things inwardly AND outwardly are being affected! And Yah knows this!
So He simplifies it for us: “ONE THING IS NECESSARY”.
Personally, I have come to find that if I give Him my worries for the day, He enables me to accomplish those things in almost half the amount of time it would take for me to do them- Yah willing of course! I then have that extra time for my husband, my friends, more prayer time, etcetera.
What a WOW moment when you choose to use His strength, rather than your own; and choose His ways and will over yours!
I’m not saying this because I have it down. I just know through the rare experience I actually choose the right way to go about a day, that it is so amazingly different and the best way to go about it. I am never going to stop trying to fight my flesh to do His ways, because they’re more than worth it. Let’s face it- we all know what and how we should do things, but there always seems to be that nudge of not wanting to do the right way (…lol thank you human nature). Praise YHWH He has made us, those who believe in Him and live a life of repentance, a NEW CREATION so we can overcome our fleshly desires to do His desires. After all, it’s Him we’re living for. HalleluYAH!
Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being.
-2 Corinthians 5:17
Overall, I think this lesson from our Messiah is teaching us to be careful in each situation, that we are not getting caught up in things that should be for another time.
Rough Examples?
- Doing the dishes after your guests leave.
- Plan things ahead to prevent from scrambling around so much.
- Focus on teaching your children while they are present rather than worrying about the mess of toys on the floor. Consider tidying when a more suitable situation comes (nap time?).
*Spiritual perfection over earthly perfection
Hope this encourages anyone who may read this, to seek YHWH in everything we do (or plan to do), so we aren’t missing out on the things He wants our attention on. Yah bless you!
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