Choosing to be Mary in a Must Be a Martha Life

I love God’s way of showing the practical in our spiritual walk with Him. He is so merciful and gracious to us.

It’s easy to condemn ourselves for not doing enough for God because our world’s paradigm and culture say that “doing” and, or “performing” brings results. What about just “being” with the Lord? He says He will help us in our time of need.

Psalm 91:14-16 (God) – “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation with long life.”

When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us up, we can then go about the doing required of us with ease and peace.

I encourage you as we are “crossing over ” into our promises this season; let’s consider that God’s grace is our sufficiency because, in all our efforts to do, we will often fall short of our expectations. Many times, these are the expectations of others. But God is not disappointed in us, He understands.

Recently, a precious friend and I were having a conversation regarding the holes in our being sufficient in time management of everyday life, and feeling overwhelmed. Our mindsets, thoughts, or possibly, strongholds we struggle with towards ourselves are natural, but GOD!

These two scriptures came to mind:

“And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” Samuel 15:22

Wow….and to listen! It’s best to listen to the Lord than to sacrifice. Listening is Obedience!

He wants our listening ear because that is obedience; moreover, then He wants the works of our hands done as a sacrifice.

And Luke 10:38-42-

Now, as they went on their way, he entered a particular village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Choosing to order our day with the Lord

This can sound trite, cliche, and oh, so easy, but it isn’t. There will always be something to do that demands our time, talent, and money in our personal lives and our ministries or business. The world around us will always compete with our time with the Lord. People may be pulling at you to do, but remember that in the scripture in Luke, Mary chose to sit at the Lord’s feet when tasks were being left undone.

I see prophetically- that as the people of God- we are in a season of great transition- crossing over into our promised land- there’s too much to do, and many are feeling frenzied and then becoming frozen not to move forward.

I feel led to pray this over you-

I break off the ungodly delays. I command the enemy to silence so you may hear the Holy Spirit. I decree you will listen to the Lord’s instructions. I speak Shalom over you. You will not miss your moment of moving forward. You are now moving forward because you are listening to the voice of the Lord in Jesus’ Name.

Practical steps:

I encourage you to sit and be in the Lord’s presence. Jesus told Martha that Mary chose the good part. Know that Martha was not being told not to do it because it’s a big part of life, but rather Martha, at that moment, was being exhorted not to allow tasks to be her priority but to Him her focus. Martha’s life, at that moment, resulted in her lacking peace in the Lord she needed. Martha was so frustrated that she became frustrated with her sister, Mary, and then she went to Jesus to demand He correct Mary. Sound familiar?

It’s time to stop this Church. Let’s re-focus our attention on Jesus. Take time with Him. Just sit at His feet, Beloved. The tasks at hand will be there when you’re done getting filled up by Holy Spirit.

To obey is not a dreaded thing. When we recognize the love of our heavenly Father- it draws us to Him and obedience to Him becomes our priority. It is directly opposite to what we get when we sacrifice our listening ( our obedience to Him)—offering our time, peace, talents, and money results in spinning our wheels. There is no joy in it. It feels heavy and disappointing, doesn’t it?

I usually walk in my understanding of what I should be doing because I did not first sit at his feet. We are not condemned as believers. (Romans 8:1).I felt compelled by the Lord to share my own experience so that it may encourage others. For anyone who is struggling with time management and feels overwhelmed with life-

Sit at His feet. He can’t wait to see your beautiful face.