Mary (19:15)
Every individual life is a unique collection of thoughts, feelings and experiences and perceptions of the world around us. We all see the world through a certain lens. Each one of us is distinct from the other. And though we live alongside each other, we take in the world in our own way. This was showcased in the way that Mary, Martha and Lazarus all dealt with the same exact situation. They were all hosting Jesus, but they dealt with his coming in different ways. Mary and Lazarus seemed to have the right idea, helping here and there, but understanding that the presence of Jesus was worth pausing for. But for Martha, she was stuck in a continual loop of anxiety. Anxiety often happens when our way of living and dealing with the stress of life isn't working. For some of us, life has become one endless stream of stress, worries and anxieties. At the beginning of our passage, Martha does a pretty good thing. She hears that Jesus is nearby and invites him and his disciples to visit. She demonstrates a heart of hospitality as she prepares her home. And you see, that's a good thing. Martha clearly has the gift of hospitality. She wants Jesus to feel comfortable in her home, and she understands the responsibility of having a lot of guests over. You see, none of these are bad things. It's with a good heart that Martha wants to host Jesus. We should all find the similar attitude and gladly welcome Jesus into our own lives and make a space for Him. It's a wonderful thing to spend time with God, and we should be seizing any opportunity we can to do so. We can welcome Jesus into our home in a number of ways. Whether it's taking a moment to read the Bible every single morning, or saturating ourselves in our hearts and our minds in sermons and content, that's enriching to our souls. Perhaps it's praying with others as we align our hearts with God's will, singing a worship song in the car on our way to work. Whatever it might be. There's endless opportunities to be near our God and welcome him into the everyday aspects of our lives. And despite our ever growing culture of busyness and hustle, we should never find ourselves too busy to spend time with God and to welcome him into our lives. The closer we allow him to get, the better our lives become. And it's not that everything becomes perfect and all of our problems go away. But like Martha, we can become distracted in our relationship with the Lord. With all of her own plans and what must be done before Jesus arrives, she forgets the whole purpose of the visit to be with Jesus. You see, Mary and Lazarus didn't forget that they found it easy to just recline at the table and be with him. But Martha was caught in a loop as she runs around the house to cook, clean and host. Others are joyfully sitting by Jesus as he shares parables and stories about life while Martha clings to her tasks. Everyone else is clinging to Christ and they're ultimately growing. But Martha is deteriorating. You see, this is what stress does to us. We don't grow. Jesus warns us of this in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, who of you can add anything to your life by worrying? You see, worry takes. It doesn't give. But to Martha, taking that time to be with Jesus didn't take precedence over all the things she needed to do. For Jesus, taking the time to grow in our faith may seem like another time consuming to do in an already packed schedule. We plan to wake up early for devos only to find our kids already woken up before the sunrise. We tell ourselves that we're going to pray before bed until we forget that we had an assignment due by midnight. And what we know we should be putting first can so easily get kicked to the bottom of our list. Have you ever felt that way? The ever increasing list of things you need to get done today seems to only get larger and larger until eventually you gotta just crash. But what might help us combat this pattern is retooling the way we actually look at our time. Oftentimes people say you need to put Jesus as your number one priority. He needs to be the first priority in your day. But this might be the wrong perspective. You see, Jesus shouldn't be one of many priorities that you have in the day. Rather than telling ourselves we'll put Jesus in our faith first, it might be more helpful to think in terms of putting Jesus in our faith as central. Instead of viewing him as an item on your agenda, view your time with God as an epicenter from which the rest of your life extends from Let your life flow from your faith. Don't put your faith in one bracket of an ever changing list of things you need to do today. That way, reading the Bible is as central as getting your food or drinking water in the day. You prioritize these things because you know everything else you need to get done today will be compromised if you don't. If you see Jesus as central in your life and the fountain by which all of your productivity flows, then you might have a better time making time for him in your day. Prioritizing Our time with Jesus helps us to sense his guidance as he leads us through all the highs and lows of life and shows us things and where we need to go. Don't fall into the stress of Martha putting all the things you want to do for Jesus above being with Jesus. There's this really compelling part of Mark chapter 3 where Jesus is calling his disciples and it says that he called them first and foremost to be with him and then he called them to go preach the gospel, go and heal, cast out demons, etc. But the first part of that was really important. You see, the disciples were called first and foremost to be with Jesus because ministry flows from intimacy. You see, there is time for work and getting things done, but it should never be a part of from an active relationship with God. Being present with God is far more important than being productive for God. In fact, you can't be truly productive for God unless you've learned the rhythms of being present with Him. We can't serve God in a pleasing way if we are apart from Him. One must flow from the other. Being with God must be a constant in our life that sustains and frees us from any potential stresses that come our way. Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and all other needs will be met. But still you might find yourself trapped in the feeling of Martha. But there's a solution right here in our story today. If we've wound up in a stressful place, all we have to do is what Martha did, which is listen to God, take the gentle rebuke to slow down and just be with Him. You see, our stress is directly related to how we respond to life circumstances. While there will definitely be stressful factors around us and outside of our control, what we are in control of is how we handle them. And there's no way we can properly process what's happening to us if we don't allow ourselves to pause, if we don't allow ourselves to process, if we don't allow ourselves to seek peace from God and respond accordingly. You see, constant motion is a surefire way to fall off the tracks. We get to choose how everyday events are going to affect our mental, emotional and spiritual well being. And putting Jesus at the epicenter of our lives and coming to him and finding intimacy with him is going to be a surefire way to stable ourselves in an ever changing world. And listen, I get it. We all respond to stress in different ways. Some of us respond to stress by shutting down. We find things like sleep to be a welcomed break from overthinking. But others, like Martha, might respond to stress by becoming hyperactive, like a mother anxiously awaiting a baby. We begin nesting because we feel like we have to prepare. We feel like we need to be in control before something happens. All the chores and activities that can help us feel like we've accomplished something when everything else seems to be crumbling around us. But both of these responses are simply distractions from what we really need in the middle of our stress. What we truly need is an encounter with Jesus. When you're feeling overwhelmed, allow yourself to pause. The psalmist says, be still and know that I am God. You see, this word be still, or this phrase. Be still means stop striving, stop working, stop pause. Take a time to consider the circumstances and seek God. Feel the warm embrace of His Spirit who comforts you. Hear the words of the one who called the storms to be still as he speaks the same command of peace over the raging seas of your heart. And once you find that moment of calm, the moment of quiet, open your ears to hear the words that he wants to speak to you, the guidance he wants to offer you. Open your heart to receive correction, knowing that it's not given in anger but in love. Trust that he wants what's best for you and is willing to take the time to hold your hand and help you see what's happening around you. As you hear his guidance, humble yourself to glad obedience. He's called you away from anxiety and worry and invites you into the peace and tranquility of his presence. God wants to take the place of stress in your life. He wants to help you navigate the complexities. And as we read in James 4:7, Submit yourselves then, to God. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up. God wants to lift you up, but it requires that you fall down at his feet. It calls you to resist your pride, overcome the temptation to do before you. Enjoy the sweet satisfaction of being. Being with God, who doesn't need anything from you but deeply desires a relationship with you, is one of the greatest joys you'll ever experience. Stress melts away in the presence of your Savior, who casts out all fear with his perfect love. Thanks again for listening to another episode of the Jesus Podcast. It's truly a joy to be with you here every single day. We're going to keep going with these stories. We're going to keep telling the story of the gospel in new and cinematic ways and seek some honest and deep reflection to enrich our faith. If you have felt blessed by this podcast so far, we would love it if you left a review. We read every single one of them and it's encouraging and it nourishes us and fuels us for the mission ahead. So thank you. Thank you from the deepest parts of our hearts here@pray.com God bless.
