Hello. My Name is Martha

You know, I've always looked down on Martha.

You know...Mary's sister.

See, Mary was the good one. The one who wanted to listen to Jesus. Martha was too wrapped up in her little world of cooking, entertaining, and preparing the house that she wouldn't take the time out to spend some time with the Lord. What was she, stupid?

This is how the Message tells the story (Luke 10:38-42)

As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand."

The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."

Seriously...who would spend time in the kitchen when JESUS HIMSELF sat in the next room speaking?

Obviously, I would.

Martha was loved by Jesus. She obviously had a good heart. She obviously had a servant's heart with good intentions. But oh, how her intentions were her focus rather than the Master.

I've decided that as disgusted with Martha as I once was, I'm actually a lot like her. It's like realizing that you grew up to be just like your mother (which in the end, isn't so bad, you know?).

You see, too often I realize that I hustle and bustle around in the morning to get ready for the day and have everything in order for the kids that I walk out the door before realizing that I haven't read my Bible.

I'm too busy with busywork that I neglect to spend time with the Lord when He is near and wanting to teach me.

I. Am. Martha.

Nice to meet you.

I'm trying to work on my Mary-ness though. Twice this week I have been THIS CLOSE to being late for work because now I read my Bible before doing some of the things that I MUST do before leaving in the morning (like getting dressed). And I have vowed not to rush through it.

I'm making an effort to spend time with my Lord, because it is essential. And I'm choosing it.

As His Glory Passes

Recently I was listening to our local Christian radio station and a small snippet of a lesson from Beth Moore was played for a 1 minute segment. It has stuck with me so vividly that I need to share it with you too!

In you grew up in Sunday School, let's think back to the story of Moses in the cleft of the rock. If you didn't, you'll be up to speed really soon. =)

In Exodus 33 Moses is talking with God and trying to convince God that he and the Israelites need evidence that they are a special and select group of people to Him. God is pleased with Moses, so agrees to comply with some of his requests. Then Moses threw a big one at God:

Show me Your glory. (v 18)

Wow. Brave man, this Moses was. Did he really know what he was asking for. I have asked this of God before, but He didn't, and I'm pretty sure it is because I couldn't handle it.

In fact, He says as much to Moses in His response:

You can not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (v 20)

However...and here's the kicker...God agreed to let Moses see His back.

So God told Moses to go to a particular location and when God was ready to pass, He would place His hand over Moses in the cleft of a rock so that Moses could not see His full glory. Once God had passed, He would remove His hand and allow Moses to see His back.

Have you ever been in that kind of situation? Think about it....

Have you ever asked God to come near to you and to work in your life or to deal with a particular situation? There are so many times that we don't see what He's doing or how He's handling our requests. However, many times we do see Him after He's passed. We see the evidence that He was really with us. We see His back as He is passing by.

Why didn't we see Him while He was there? Well, my friend, that's because He had His protective hand covering us through the entire ordeal.

Hand of God photo courtesy of National Geographic.

Cherokee Youth Ritual

I have no idea if this is factual, but it was a very touching email that was sent to me some time ago. I apologize if it is not accurate, but it is inspiring nonetheless:

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.


We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.
Moral of the Story: Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7 ~

The Time Draws Near

Okay, so the big day is this upcoming Wednesday evening. I have been studying and prepping myself because frankly, I'm scared. I'm worried that I won't live up to what He deserves me to be, but I feel called to do it and I keep telling myself that I can do all things through Him.

Breathe in, breathe out.

On an interesting (possible) turn of events, it seems that one of the Mormon missionaries might be going through a faith crisis of his own. Maybe this is the reason why they are coming? We'll see. I'm leaving it up to God.

Keep praying. I need it!

Some Thoughts to Ponder

Sorry I've been silent on here as of late. I am working on something really important that I hope to be able to talk about on here soon. In the meantime, I will leave you with a couple of thoughts that I encountered last night at my Bible study (we're doing Beth Moore's Believing God and it is AWESOME!):

An unchallenged faith is an unchanging faith.

God is who He says He is regardless of what we believe about Him.

When we've began to think that God makes sense and make Him common, we've been deceived because God is bigger and more than anything we can comprehend.

We should not create God (in our minds) to be in the image of man.

Sorry this is short, but I've gotta' get back to studying for my big project. I'll talk more later (and not so elusively...but it's a lot to explain and I don't have the time at the moment. Just pray for me--that I'll be the light that God wants me to be).