Yesterday I crashed. Not literally, but physically. I have been going, going, going (thinking I can do it all), only to eventually be hit by exhaustion and have to stop all that I am trying to do. The problem is that I am a doer. I tie doing to who I am and sometimes forget to just be. The story of Mary and Martha will forever grip my heart. To be honest, I completely understand Martha. She was just simply getting things done! Her Master, Jesus, was in her very house and she wanted to tidy up, serve the best meal and make sure the entire evening went perfect. But in her quest for perfection she was missing what’s best. She was missing precious moments of sitting at her Savior’s feet.
I have read this story so many times and felt compassion for Martha. Why? Because I am a Martha. I get caught up in my doing and forget what it means to be. I love to-do lists. I love feeling accomplished. The problem with those two previous sentences is the subject: I. Life doesn’t revolve around I, but He, Jesus. The question I have been asking myself lately is what does Jesus love? What does God delight in? What are God’s dreams?

I believe the answer is found in stillness. To be still and know that He is God is to forfeit control of things we have no control over. It is to recognize our littleness and God’s greatness. Mary wasn’t shirking her responsibilities and Martha wasn’t ignoring Jesus. To put it in Jesus’ words, Mary chose “the good part.” She chose the thing that was “necessary.” The word necessary means “duty, business, need.” Martha was distracted by doing things that weren’t needed or her duty. Her busyness made her miss what was best. There are so many things I think are “necessary” that are merely wants and time-fillers. I want to learn to choose the good part. I want to live a life chasing God’s dreams and not my own. Calvin Miller said that “success is not busianity, but Christianity.” Success in this life is be madly in love with Jesus. It is to replace my eyes that see the world revolving around me with eyes that see the world revolving around Jesus.

I want to choose the good part, the absolute best and the things that are necessary. If that means not marking off a few things on my to-do list in order to sit at my Savior’s feet, so be it. What if I wasn’t focused on getting things done, but rather on making the most of each opportunity to worship Jesus? Richard Wurmbrand addressed our busyness with this statement: “God looks at the attitude of your heart, not at how much you can fulfill.” God isn’t worried about me accomplishing all of my tasks. He simply longs to see me become more like Jesus. That literally just changed my perspective on things. Let’s spend our days revolving our life around worshipping Jesus rather than making our lists happen. Let’s choose what is best, together.

Your sister,

Gretchen