Pay Attention to What Stirs You
I'm writing a Bible study for my Thursday Group looking at the women in Jesus' life. Their stories are pretty amazing.
This morning a familiar Scripture surprised me as it spoke to my heart: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things..." (Luke 10:38) It seemed Jesus was saying to me: Luann, I know the worries and troubles you carry.
I didn't feel like I was carrying much. Yet he knew Martha's heart so I know he knows mine.
I decided to see what concerns may be weighing on me. I spent some time listing all of the things in my heart I could be worried and troubled about. Things in the world, the hard things that my friends are dealing with, concerns for my family, my own worries about the future. I discovered I had a bunch! He knows my heart.
Perhaps you'd like to list the things you are troubled about. What's weighing on your heart? Perhaps you're carrying concerns you aren't even aware of.
Reflect to See What You Discover
When you reflect on your list, what do you discover? I discovered several things.
Perhaps Jesus' words to Martha were words of love and compassion, not rebuke. How do you hear them? Reflect on this for a while.
I wrote his words to me, "Luann, Luann, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed." Perhaps you'd like to personalize his words and hear him say your name . . . twice.
Do you hear his invitation? He's giving us permission and a choice. He didn't tell Martha what to do. He didn't tell her what the one thing was. He simply affirmed Mary's choice and left the ball in Matha's court. She could be free of the cultural expectations placed on women, free to decide for herself how she was going to deal with all the churning, blaming, craziness going on within her. Jesus had given her permission to be free. Probably not how she expected him to respond.
I wondered what she chose.
Summing Up By Writing Down
He knows us and he sets us free. Perhaps you'd like to set aside some time this month to reflect on this familiar passage of Scripture and the accompanying passages in John 11-12. You might consider: the "one thing" (what is Jesus referring to?), Jesus' protection of Mary, Jesus' setting aside cultural expectations regarding the role of women, hospitality, why Jesus gave Martha the freedom to choose, and what is your choice going to be as you head into fall.
May I encourage you to write down in your journal a letter/prayer to Jesus that states your intention for how you want to arrange your day-to-day life in response to the invitation, freedom, permission, and choice he gives you. I need to do the same. Until September...
Blessings!
Luann Budd
JournalKeeping.org