Tag Archives: martha was busy

Leaving Stress Behind

Steven Covey taught that many of us aren’t as productive as we could be because of how we spend our time and how we manage the tasks we face. He divided up tasks into four areas. There’s urgent and non urgent, and important and not important. One of the problems many of us face is that we live in the quadrant that is urgent and important. It sounds good on the surface, but the truth is that all we’re doing is putting out fires constantly. We’re doing a lot, but we’re going nowhere. We need to be spending our time focusing on the important, but not urgent quadrant. That one will help us plan for the future and prevent many of the fire drills we face.

In Luke 10, Jesus was visiting the house of Martha and Mary. Martha was in the quadrant of urgent and important. She was busy trying to clean, cook and serve. Mary was in the quadrant of important and not urgent. She sat at Jesus’ feet to listen and learn. Martha got upset at Mary, just like people who live in that quadrant do, and told Jesus to have her help. Jesus replied, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (NLT). Jesus understood how tiring it gets living that way being distracted and constantly worrying. Martha wasn’t stressed out or distracted. She was calm because she focused on the right things.

Psalm 37:5 says, “Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way, you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly!” (TPT) God knows what is best for you. Cast your cares, your schedule and whatever else is distracting you on Him. Give Him to right to guide your life. He knows what’s best for you mentally, physically and spiritually. Refocus your heart on Him, spend time daily sitting at His feet listening. You’ll find your life will be the way He intended it. Commit all your ways to Him and trust Him in every area of your life. You’ll find peace and rest for your mind, body and soul. He knows what’s best for you and will lead you beside the still waters.

Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Intimate Conversations 


I like to tell people that I’m the busiest person I know. I carry two phones with three numbers attached to them. I work a full time job, write, do ministry, and drive for Uber at night. I look around though, and see other people who are just as busy. Somehow in our world, we equate busyness with value. The more we do, the greater we are. Even in the Church, we have adopted this mentality with ministers and lay leaders. We are always on the clock, we never take a sabbatical, and we never say “no” to anything or anyone.

That’s not the example Jesus gave us for ministry. Even though He was very busy and sought after, Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (NLT). The model He gave us was to step away from our duties often to spend time alone with the Father. He understood that it is not wise to continually give without going to the Father for a refill. As our lives become more busy, our intimate conversations alone with God in our prayer closet should increase.

Revival is coming and we need to be in the habit of stepping aside from all the distractions to spend time alone in prayer. Performing miracles, leading the lost to the cross, caring for the poor, and preaching are not supposed to take the place of our quiet time with God. He wants us to understand that busyness equals distractions and distractions keep us from going into our prayer closet. We can’t have the power of God flowing through us until we have been intimate with Him. God has always valued alone time with Him more than our busyness for Him.

Think of Martha and Mary. Martha was the one who welcomed Jesus into their home and as Luke 10:40 says, “was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.” Mary was the one who was just sitting at the Lord’s feet listening. When Martha complained that she was doing all the work, the Lord replied, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it.” Each of us need to discover what that is as well. We need to take time often to just sit at the feet of Jesus, away from the distractions, and listen. That is what Jesus values and what we should value as well.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized