Discipline, Encouragement, Perseverence, Priorities, Serving

Distracted

As we investigate the story of Martha and Mary, my question to my readers is, “Are you so distracted by what you are doing FOR the Lord that you miss being ministered BY Him? Whether you have been given a full-time ministry or you do something else for the Lord, it is easy to become distracted from what God has called you to do.

Jesus was at Martha, Mary, and Lazarus’ home in Bethany. Martha began serving everyone who was there and got so busy with her preparations that she became frustrated. Mary was seated at Jesus’ feet listening to His teachings. Martha began to complain to Jesus that Mary wasn’t helping her. Our Bible Journaling verse takes up the story from there, “But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:41-42 ESV)

I checked a couple of commentaries to get the background of this story. J. Vernon McGee gives us his take on this section in his commentary on Luke. “Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that Mary had done her part; then she went to sit at the feet of Jesus. Martha, her sister, was a dear soul and if it had not been for her they would not have had that lovely dinner. She got busy, however, and became frustrated.”  

The New King James Version says, “And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” (Luke 10:39 NKJV) The Enduring Word website states, “Martha didn’t get the help she wanted from her sister Mary. It wasn’t that Mary was lazy – she prepared as well as Martha, but Mary also sat at Jesus’ feet.” Both commentaries say that it wasn’t that Mary left Martha to do all the work, which is what I’ve always heard in every sermon I’ve heard preached, but that Mary did her work, and then she turned her attention to what Jesus was teaching, while Martha got so caught up in the preparations that she eventually got herself frustrated and lost the whole purpose of Jesus’ visit. 

Isn’t that what we do sometimes? God calls us to a ministry, and we get ourselves so caught up in DOING, that we forget to keep our focus on Him as He leads us into what He has called us to do. There is a time to work and then there is a time to sit at His feet and soak up everything He wants to teach us. The Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy by telling him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV) We are to learn from God those things that will help us to accomplish what God has for us to do, in this case, Timothy was a new pastor, and Paul was encouraging him to keep his focus on Jesus so that he could encourage and teach his congregation properly. Timothy couldn’t just be concerned with the details of his ministry, he had to also keep himself close to God, learning as much as he could so that he could properly minister to his congregation.

I’ve seen pastors who have become so tied up in all the extra “stuff” of being a pastor that they quickly got “burned out” with the ministry and ended up quitting. They had lost sight of the fact that they needed to look to the One who could not only help them with all the “stuff” of ministry, but they also had been giving out so much that they weren’t getting filled up themselves. They allowed themselves to become distracted by the mechanics of ministry, that they forgot to get fueled up by the Master so that they could continue to do the work God had called them to do.  

As we go forward in doing what God calls us to, we must always remember that no matter what it is God wants us to do FOR Him, we need to STAY CLOSE TO Him and learn from Him so that we can perform our calling properly. We must be careful not to become distracted by the little stuff. We need to be more like Mary and less like Martha.

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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