Are You a Mary or a Martha?
After weeks of feeling overwhelmed with our move (yay!!!!) there has been a hard stop. A calm. Moving is hard work on any day of the week so I just needed to stop doing anything that wasn’t related to moving in.
Finally moved in and I’m just going to breathe. Slowly. Deeply. Unhurriedly. I’ve dropped down to Level 1 (no incline). I’ve unpacked our life which has been packed up for over a year. I’m figuring out where everything goes. I still haven’t come across a few things that must be in storage. This home is different…smaller, a less angular layout, typical places where things get shoved into for hiding when company comes calling weren’t included in the design by design. Some rooms are bigger, some smaller than our prior home so familiar things are finding their way into new places. We’re still having conversations that begin with “where is…?” followed by “let me think about that for a second…”
Luke 10 slows me down
In the midst of the move, one morning I read the story about Jesus visiting Mary and Martha in Luke 10. I’ve read the story before – a few times, heard it preached on and made pointed notes in the margins of my Bible; it never became as clear as it did upon this reading. Hi, my name is Jan, but please feel free to call me Martha. It’s not that I want my name to really be Martha (although it’s a nice name – I have nothing against it) it’s just that I had never been so captured by the comparison before. Reading through the story, it occurred to me how much I was REALLY a “Martha” and have been one almost my entire life!
Well…phooey!
I recently met a woman who looks up the background of names and that intrigued me a bit, so I decided to look up what each of Mary and Martha’s names meant.
There are many translations and several meanings, but I like these the most – Mary, a Hebrew name means “wished for child” and Martha means “lady or mistress of the house.” Mary approached Jesus in a peaceful way while Martha took the grown-up role of orchestrating all.the.things (the realtor, the builder, the sale, the purchase, the move, the reservations, the boxes, the change of address cards, the bank, and the list goes on and on).
Soaking it in
Yup! That is me! So many things to do in this life and it becomes so easy for any of us to go flying willy-nilly down the hill instead of soaking in the Word at Jesus’ feet. Life can feel like a game of whack-a-mole if we allow it.
I hope that Martha sat at Jesus’ feet every now and then. Surely, she must have! But this particular story seems made to illustrate a finer point.
Jesus only wanted one thing…fellowship with Him. While I’m running around checking off a multitude of lists (because there is no single list!) He only asks for one thing. Mary knew this. Martha probably knew this but thought if she just made one more dish or hung one more picture that would showcase her good works. Her way, her will, not His.
Old habits die hard
In light of this awareness, I really want to be more of a Mary. And the secret lies in sitting at His feet. Sitting down, lists down, hands folded in prayer.
And yet, that wall right there would be the best wall for this picture. Where’s the hammer? Old habits die hard.
I want to focus more on my relationship with God.
I want to focus more on my relationship with my spouse.
I want to read more novels, less success-oriented materials.
I want to pay less attention to what everyone else is doing.
I want to rest, knowing that it’s all on God’s timing, not mine.
Whatever happens in my life, I know God is in control. He forgives me for my Martha moments. He forgives me when I fall asleep during prayer. He is showing me how to live in a more Mary-like way.
I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me while I wait at His feet.
