38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42
How many of us can relate to Martha? Her heart and intentions are in the right place, as she wants to bless Jesus and serve Him well while having Him in her home. She finds herself very frustrated with her sister, Mary, who is doing absolutely nothing to help get the preparations taken care of. Martha thinks that hosting Jesus requires a lot of work and preparations. Do you feel that? Do you think that? Am I working hard on preparations for Jesus’ visit? Mary, on the other hand, has chosen to not stress the details and instead reclines near Jesus, listening intently to whatever He would have to say.
Though its been recognized and shared many times, it yet again catches my attention that Jesus in this story shares (much to the surprise of people of our culture who are often so work oriented) that Mary has chosen what is better. Jesus was not worried about how neat, in order, or well prepared the home was. His focus was relationship and being in the presence of others. While many would say that Martha was a leader and Mary was a follower, I believe that Mary is a type of leader I need to learn to be more like. Martha was caught up in distractions, while Mary was caught up in the Creator Himself.
As we at Abogar International Ministries are in an intentional time of reappraisal and seeking God’s guidance and direction, weI want to be found at the feet of Jesus, listening. I confess that I have been quite worried about preparations at Abogar, and may have lacked in just sitting at the feet of Jesus; resting and listening. However, in choosing what is better, resting and listening in the presence of the Lord, I believe that I and Abogar will become better prepared to grow and be all that God would invite for us to be. Now is the right time and season to develop a discipline of resting and listening. There are several leaders and successful servants of the Lord who can really speak into my life and the ministry of Abogar, if I am just willing to sit at their feet and listen. I also need to be sitting at the feet of Jesus, and often just resting and listening for His will and way.
Being a passionate and emotional person, I can be too quick to speak. James 1:19 challenges me, as it says that everyone should be quick to LISTEN and slow to speak. These next few months are going to be a time for me to be intentionally working to develop a practice and discipline in my life… listening, and listening well. There is a diversity of wisdom that God has dispersed through many people, and I want to glean from the experience and wisdom of others, that I might become more like Jesus, and so Abogar too may become more of what God wants for it to be. Given the opportunity to attend to preparations or sit at the feet of Jesus, I pray that I grow to choose more wisely day by day, resting and listening in the presence of the Lord.
Pray for me please! Pray for Abogar! Pray for our board of directors! Pray for the children whose lives God wants to reach and touch! Please pray that we all will learn from Mary to choose what is better; to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen well to all He has to say!
