"Martha, Martha."

^{Luke 10}

³⁸ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

⁴⁰ But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

⁴² But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

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I tend to worry. I tend to worry a lot. To much to my dismay, I’m always getting hung up on the details of life that I fail to see the big picture. Proverbially, I can’t see the forest through the trees. And sometimes, as unattractive as it is, I can be Martha. I know we all want to be eager and earnest Mary’s completely carefree, sitting sincerely at the feet of Jesus. She’s always content to just be there in His presence, forgetting the rest of life’s demands and troubles, she's the free-spirit. But I know that that isn’t everybody and most people analyze and chew, and mull and plan, and worry and worry some more and carefully construct a program for our lives that is safe and organized because we like safe and organized and smooth and constructed. And God forbid that we ever stray away from the program, even when He’s in the room. We’ve sweated, and toiled, and worked and prepared Him a feast but have forgotten that He already is the Bread of Life and when anybody else gets a glimpse of the big picture, we rebuke him or her for not partaking in the “labors” of preparation. We come to Jesus complaining about something or someone that is “hindering” the flow of our personal agenda, though our intentions may be good, they really are all about us.  And what a biting question to throw at His feet, “Don’t You care, Lord, that I’m here working alone?”   

And maybe sometimes it does feel like you are toiling all alone in the kingdom. You’ve poured it all out for the work of God and it feels like you are carrying the load yourself and everybody else is getting off easy.

But Martha, Martha, of course He cares. But you are worried and upset over all the details. You are troubled about too many trivial things. There’s only one thing that is “needful”, one thing that is necessary, and Mary has chosen that “good part”, and that cannot be taken away from her. There is only one main event and that is Jesus Christ and when He steps in the room, everything else must give honor and place to Him. He is there but we are stuck in the kitchen working in the carnal mentality of worry and cumbersome tasking that we can’t soak in His presence. We are talking at Him, but we aren’t really talking to Him and listening. He’s there in our homes and in our churches but He isn’t really with us. We are so anxious to serve Him in the flesh, but not enough to leave everything behind and sit at His feet to immerse ourselves in His Word and life-changing presence.

I want to choose the good part. The thing that cannot not be taken away from me. And what is it? It is quality time in His presence. I cannot just acknowledge His presence and then walk out of the room and forget that He came to be with me. Mary had grabbed a hold of this revelation- you’ve got to get all you can while He’s there, everything else can wait, but I’ve got to be enraptured in His presence now.

I will stipulate: I am not saying that organization and preparation are not qualities Jesus Christ is asking us to forsake. He is always asking for excellence. But these things must be done in prayer and fasting but Lord grant us the wisdom to know that when You walk in the room, we must relinquish control. It isn't our show, it's His. Our laboring and toiling will never be enough to be equal to or outdo His touch and power. And when we are in His presence, and we’ve done all we could do and laid it all down at His feet, we must give Him full access to work and minister as only He can do. And when Jesus Christ does do the work, it cannot be taken away. When we as a people are truly lost in His presence and engrossed at His feet, there is something that takes place in our hearts and lives- an experience- that can never be taken away and it can never be denied.

But we cannot miss it. We’ve cant afford to miss seeing the forest through the trees. Martha’s of the world: today He is asking you to lay down the burden and stay awhile while the Miracle Maker is in the room.You've come to feed Him with your perfect sermon, and perfect music and worship and perfect ministerial programs but right at this moment, right now, He has come to feed your soul. Let Him.