Archive for the 'Mary & Martha Project' Category
May 27, 2008 @ 11:42 am | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project, The Solid Rock
There have been days in the past couple of months when I’ve wanted to throw Mary and Martha beneath the bus.
That sounded harsh, didn’t it?
I have a feeling that if any two women would understand that statement, and would agree with it (had there been buses way back then), then surely it would have been these two. Finding that elusive internal balance has always been an issue for women, it seems, for as far back as time goes.
I sat in the Sunday school lesson this past week and listened as we learned about the balance of life. The rise and fall, the lulls and the swells, that life’s ocean carries us on. Things come. Things go. People come. People go. Circumstances are bad. Circumstances are good.
It’s the circle of life, and it’s only in coming full circle that balance is achieved. Good wouldn’t be recognized as ‘good’ if not for the balance of the ‘bad.’ Sweet wouldn’t taste nearly as delectable without the memory of ’sour.’
When we step back and look through the lens of clarity it’s almost easy to see this external balance at work in our lives, and in the world around us. So I’ve been thinking this morning, are not the internal scales of balance working in much the same way?
So often I think that every segment of who I am must be at work simultaneously. The thinker in me. The spiritual woman in me. The creator in me. The caretaker in me. I expect all of these things, of course, to work in perfect tandem with my roles as mom, wife, friend, writer, student, encourager, leader, granddaughter, sister, Nana, aunt…
I just checked and there is no S for SuperWoman on my chest. (You know what - I don’t even own a cape.)
In Mary & Martha’s defense (since I am the one who brought them into the lives of the women in our church), I have to say that the main thing I’ve learned from our study of them is that this internal balance is not evidenced in a single day. When viewing individual days, there is no balance. Some days are frought with hassles that require very little creativity but a lot of intense care. Other days are nothing but creative ones. Still others will be spent in quiet speculation, only to be followed the next by merriment and a sense that anything is possible.
We aren’t capable of seeing this internal balance at work in our lives. It truly is a matter of waking each morning with one purpose for that day. Lord, direct my thoughts, my path, my life today.
It’s loving Him so much that we seek only His approval. It’s loving ourselves enough to have mercy when we stumble and resolve enough to get right back up and try again. It’s loving others so intently that the frustrations of occasionally being thrown off-balance are virtually undetectable in the light of doing what is right.
I came across the following that was supposedly written by a seventeenth-century nun. It sums up very well both, the truth and the humor, about this life that I’m embracing this morning.
Lord, you know better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from getting talkative, particularly from the fatal habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all, but you know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind from the recital of endless details - give me wings to come to the point.
I ask for grace enough to listen to the tales of others’ pains. Seal my lips on my own aches and pains - they are increasing, and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. Help me endure them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint - some of them are so hard to live with - but a sour old woman is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so!
And - to that - I will only add these words of my own:
Lord, direct my thoughts today. Direct my pathway. Direct my life. Help me to listen to You, and to You alone.
Help me to do just that - ‘one thing’ - today.
balance, Mary & Martha Project
March 27, 2008 @ 3:01 pm | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project, Soul Food, Uniquely Me
“Biblical encouragement is soul work. God unleashes its mysterious power every time a child of God follows the Holy Spirit’s direction and steps into the suffering of another person…As children of God, we have every tool we need to mend broken hearts and lives. So instead of isolating ourselves in a self-made cocoon of protection, we need to find out what those tools are, learn how to use them, and get to work.”
—SHARON W. BETTERS, Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women in the Church
_____________________________
“Wait a minute…” Darlene paused and looked at me. “You write, don’t you?”
I nodded, too overcome with emotion to do much more than mutter that, yes, I did indeed write.
She pointed to the large, cracked pottery vase she cradled in her arms and then motioned to the many more on the shelf behind her. “There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”
Oh yes.
If she only knew…
Just minutes before, we’d come upstairs to discuss the details of my new volunteer duties at Coventry. I’d already taken the downstairs tour and had seen both, the gift shop where the finished products were sold to the community and the work and production area where these special needs young adults were gaining pride and ownership as they learned the craft of pottery.
The work that is produced here is phenomenal, to say the least. To realize the special hands and hearts behind it all makes it priceless. By the end of the downstairs tour, and meeting each of the day residents and the other staff and volunteers, I already felt a sense of belonging. If I hadn’t been sure beforehand, I was more than sure of it now.
Volunteering one day a week at Coventry was my own personal ‘next step’ of the Mary & Martha Project. In ways that not even I truly comprehend yet, I’m doing my best to follow His prompting.
God, isn’t this whole project about finding balance - about somehow reconciling our inner Marys and Marthas?
Initially I wasn’t at all convinced that adding one more thing to my already overflowing calendar was a good thing, let alone the right thing.
It was over a period of a few weeks that I slowly came to realize that I’d been looking at it all wrong.
“It’s not about the quantity of work (read: service) you’re doing, it’s about the quality.” His reprimand was gentle, but it struck a cord deep within me.
Sometimes in our urgency to “be salt and light” we get so busy doing that we miss the opportunity to truly touch. To truly affect a life and leave it changed for the better.
For me, it was time to let some of my “busyness” fall to the side. It was time to get outside of myself (and outside of my comfort zone) and into my community and touch a life. Or two. Or more.
After spending the better part of an hour with these kids and with the people who so obviously love and care for them, I went upstairs with Darlene, touched and excited to be a part of this.
I immediately spotted an absolutely gorgeous vase that had obviously been glazed and fired and now stood alone on a shelf.
I commented on the beauty of the piece. She reached for it and placed it between us. Pointing to the tiniest hairline crack in the side seam of the vase, she smiled and spoke the words.
“See? We can’t put this one in the gift shop. It’s broken, but beautiful.”
Something inside of me pulled up short and I caught my breath.
“I simply can’t throw these out.” Darlene went on. “I bring the cracked ones up here and find other uses for them. They’re still beautiful, don’t you think? They may not be able to hold water, but they’ll be perfect for another purpose.”
Broken, but beautiful.
Those were the very words God had placed on my heart so many months ago for our ladies. Like those pottery vases and pots, we all stand before God with cracks. Some more severe than others. Some may even be damaged to the point where “they can’t hold water.”
But that only means that holding water is not their purpose in life.
They’ll be perfect for another purpose.
“Wait a minute…you’re a writer, aren’t you?”
I am a writer.
“There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”
There is definitely a story.
My God is in the process of telling it to us all.
February 20, 2008 @ 9:36 am | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project
I finished my personal devotional study on Mary and Martha last night.
I know that most of these studies were designed to be a part of a morning devotion time but - for me - more and more often these past few weeks, this time has come at the end of the day.
Where studying in the morning helps to bring focus to the upcoming day, doing it at the end of the day does the same for me. After a day of writing my mind truly needs something to recenter it, to take everything that may have taken place throughout the day and wrap it all up with certain truths.
When I closed the book after reading the last few words, I felt as though I knew these two women intimately. They weren’t so different from me. I could very easily see characteristics of both Mary and Martha in my own life.
I’ve realized these last few weeks that many women perceive Martha to be the less desirable of the two. I know this is because we tend to view her as a whiner who just wasn’t willing to take the time to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of Him.
But that just isn’t true at all. I’ve never felt that way about the story of Martha so it was a relief to find that this study helped me to solidify something I’ve always felt rather strongly about.
The story of Mary and Martha is a story of balance. It truly is that simple. I would imagine that everyone - male and female - needs that certain balance. But I know that it is especially true for us women.
To have too many days of ‘kitchen duty’ (Martha time) without a healthy dose of ‘living room’ intimacy (Mary time) can leave a woman feeling irritable, frustrated, low on joy, dry, with feelings of emptiness and isolation.
It’s difficult to actually speak, or even type, the words “Too much time in living room intimacy…” We women are kind of wired to believe that there just can’t be such a thing as too much time sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Taken literally, that is probably true. But, in the ‘real world’ (and - that is where we are called to live and work and serve) women encounter just as many adverse symptoms if they aren’t giving of themselves in some way that is productive and of service to others.
Depression, resentment of intrusion, low energy levels, apathetic attitude, frustration over current direction of life, and increased self-indulgence are all signs that we may, in fact, be lacking in the service department.
I awoke with that thought this morning. I know, I’m weird. Women wake up thinking about a sale on shoes, trying to dissect a conversation with a friend from the day before, her need for a manicure…Really important stuff, right?
But…no. It seems that more and more often it’s sometime during the nighttime hours that I receive answers to many of my daytime questions.
Yesterday’s question was why do I feel frustrated and so stagnated today?
I’ve actually wondered this the past several Tuesdays, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I actually felt the need to hunt down the answer. After coming off of Mondays - a day of fasting and really focused prayer - it would make sense to me that I should feel nothing short of rejuvenated, inspired, and ready to write volumes and volumes of equally inspiring words come Tuesday morning.
Yet, by the end of yesterday I struggled with low energy, frustration, and apathy. NOT the qualities I want to be known for, that’s for sure. So I finished the Martha and Mary study, went to bed, and - sometime during the night - I received the answer to my question.
My writing hours - though they are what I consider to be my ‘work’ - are an intense time of living room intimacy with Him. Though I sometimes complain about not being able to tap into the anointing that I desire on some days, the truth is that I spend lots of time in conversation with God. While writing, it’s almost like He’s sitting right next to me. I stay in constant communion with Him.
Coming off of my Mondays and diving right into very full writing weeks, translates into a lot of living room intimacy. Which is a good, good thing, I know. But, particularly weeks like this one, when I have no one to care for except myself, it is very easy to go several days without real interaction with others, and especially without giving of myself to others.
In short, I throw off the delicate balance that we women need to function at our very best.
So today - even though this should have been done yesterday - I am relishing my time with Him. But then I will rise from this spot and will walk out my door and into the world around me.
I will find ways to interact, to give, to serve today. Whether it’s spending a couple hours with my grandparents, meeting someone for lunch, or merely taking a few extra minutes during errand -running to make real eye contact and conversation with the strangers around me - I will let more of my Martha out.
Balance - it’s what makes life work well.
It’s what God has intended for His children from the beginning of time.
But…sometimes it’s not until the still and dark of the night that gentle reminders of this very basic principle suddenly come to light.
February 5, 2008 @ 9:53 am | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project
(The following is the lesson that launched The Mary & Martha Project in our Ladies WOW.)
I don’t remember the last time I’ve felt this stirred yet this invigorated - this convicted yet this liberated - this motivated yet this tranquil. All of this at play, at once - inside me!
I’m in awe of what God is doing right now and I’m especially in awe of how He’s moving a whole church full of people at the same time.
For three Sunday nights in a row now God has spoken to the deepest recesses of my heart. I knew from that first week that something mighty and powerful lay just ahead.
I’ve been in tremendous services before, I’ve felt His power, heard His voice, experienced His touch. And it made a difference, sure. Intimate times with you always make a difference.
But this time…
This time it seems as though each Sunday is just the catipulting point for the following week. It sets the stage. With each passing day He just keeps layering on more and more dimension, revealing just a bit more on Wednesday than He did on Monday, in different areas and ways on Fridays than He did on Tuesdays.
During last night’s sermon it was all I could do to stay on my seat. The illustration of being in a river and stepping off into waters over the head just about had me jumping out of my skin.
Inside I was screaming, That is it. That’s what You’ve been showing me, little by little, day by day. I’ve felt like such a child these past few weeks - like You’ve had to take me back to a few basics.
Trust me. Step out. Don’t look to the right, don’t look to the left. Reach out and take my hand; all you need to know is that I am with you. Just do this one thing. Don’t worry about the next step until it is time. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.
More and more every day the story of Mary and Martha would come to my mind. I began to read it every day and – every day, it seemed – I’d get another little nugget out of it that I hadn’t seen the day before. God’s word is like that. It’s new and fresh every day.
In Luke, Chapter 10 it says:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
The message seems so simple. Both women were friends of Jesus. Close friends. He loved this family. He loved them enough that He wept when their brother died.
Both women had unique talents and abilities. I have no doubt that Mary herself had served a great number of meals and - most likely - Martha had her own moments of listening instead of doing.
The fact that Jesus pointed out on this one occasion that “only one thing is needed,” and that Mary has “chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her,” doesn’t at all mean that Mary was any closer to Jesus or that He thought any less of Martha. On another given day, it could be that service was the “only one thing.”
But on this day, Jesus taught and Mary - in her hunger for more - was the one to sit at His feet.Charles Spurgeon spoke of Martha in one of his devotionals. “Her fault was not that she served.” The condition of a servant looks well every Christian. We ARE called to serve. Her fault was that she grew ‘cumbered with much serving,’ so that she forgot him and only remembered the service.”
I know all too well the tendency to feel trapped by saying ‘yes’ to one too many projects, committees, or programs - all in the name of service. Just like in the skit, it’s all too easy to let my heart be pulled away from doing things “unto the Lord” and instead just be thankful for simply getting things done.
This is where my heart and my soul have been these past few weeks. Knowing that I somehow had to get past the weights and burdens that seem to continually stack up. But I also knew that God wanted the same for each of you.
God, how on earth do I communicate this burden to these women? How do I tell them that this is the year of releasing our inner Mary and Martha’s?
Last night, in that gentle way that He has with me, His reminder was that it’s not about me. Not at all.
It’s not my responsibility to pinpoint an exact plan of how to present this year’s vision. I am one woman, and not a Superwoman, at that. I have a burden, yes, but it’s more of seeing everything in shadows; knowing what’s out there and yet not being able to pinpoint it exactly.
“Remember the ‘one thing.’” This reminder in a still, small voice made me smile.
A few days ago I had been reading a sidebar in a book called The Practical Power of “One Thing.” As I had quickly skimmed four short bullet points, I was amazed at how closely those four points echoed the past week of my life. These two really jumped out at me.
2. Ask God to reveal the next step. As you go through your day, keep asking the Lord, “What is the one thing I need to do next?” Don’t let the big picture overwhelm. Just take the next step as he reveals it…Tell about last Sunday night’s service.
After last Sunday night’s service, I have come to view my days as working out this First Step that He’s given to me. Each time this week that I’ve been tempted to jump ahead, think ahead, or worry ahead, I’ve reminded myself of Step One. Blinders on until Step One is complete.
3. Have faith that what needs to get done will get done. Since you have dedicated your day to the Lord, trust that He will show you the one thing or many things that must be done. Do what you can in the time allotted. Then trust that what wasn’t accomplished was either unnecessary or is being taken care of by God.
Hula hoops were all the rage when I was in elementary school. I remember that a good many of my friends owned several of them before I ever received my first one.It was red, with a thick white stripe running through the center.
I loved that thing.
I would stand out on the driveway, EVERY afternoon after school, practicing, practicing, practicing…
Over and over I would slip it over my head, let it shimmy down my shoulders and come to rest on non-existent (then) hips.There was only a quarter of a split second to start the hoop to spinning; if you missed that narrow window of opportunity, the hula hoop would just falter clumsily around the body a slow time or two and then land with a dull thud around the ankles.
It took me several days of non-stop tries and retries before I finally got the hang of what made the hoop spin like nobody’s business around my skinny little body. Once I got it though - the complexity of the previous days’ tries seemed so silly to me.
Very soon I was able to add two and three more hoops to my original one - and kept them all going for a very impressive amount of time!By then I could hardly believe that I had struggled so with the one hoop. I had somehow managed to turn something so simple into a frustrating series of spins, drops, and the wildest body motions ever - just to keep a plastic hoop spinning.
Most of my days lately are spent with several spinning hoops looping their way around my life. Trying to keep them all in motion at the same time has taken lots of tries and retries. Wife. Mother. Writer. Student. WOW. Nana. Friend. Daughter. Granddaughter.
I have probably dropped more of these hoops than even I would care to admit during the learning process. Over and over, I have slipped yet another “hoop” over my life and tried to catch that very brief - very narrow - window of opportunity required to achieve needed balance.
And - over and over, one or more of these hoops have given a less than stellar spin before falling, useless and clumsy, around my feet.
So on those days when the spinning feels out of control and not at all what it should be, I try my best to think back to those third grade days and the important nugget of truth that I discovered about the good ‘ol hula hoop.It’s all about finding your center.
Once you’ve found your center, you establish a certain steady easy-going rhythm and you let everything else move around that center. It’s not about wild body gyrations or fancy footwork or even great talent or ability.
It’s about tuning in to your center - your spiritual self - and then allowing the various hoops of your life to steadily and securely ring themselves around that very special rhythm you’ve established with Him.
God is doing a work. It’s not about me. It’s not about one person, or one group, or even one church. It’s about something vibrant that is about to come to fruition. It’s about reconciling the Mary and the Martha within each of us.
I know that many of you – if not all of you – are feeling something very similar to what I’ve been feeling. If you’ve been feeling - like me – a bit like a child these past few weeks - like He’s having to take you back to a few basics. Trust me. Step out. Don’t look to the right, don’t look to the left. Reach out and take my hand; all you need to know is that I am with you. Just do this one thing. Don’t worry about the next step until it is time. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.
I want to share with you what God spoke to me this morning. For those of you who attended WOW on a regular basis last year, you KNOW I have never stood before you and told you that God spoke a specific word to me, for you. Tonight, I AM telling you just that.
This is what He wants you to know:
This is not just the basics. This is it.This is where it all gets exciting, where it all comes together - where all the years of growth and development culminate into this plan He has for us. It is truly just so mammoth in size and awesome in power that you have to be like small child in my arms before you can receive it.
I know without a doubt that this is such a widespread move right now. I know it is reaching into all avenues of the church, and this includes our women.
With every one I’ve spoken to in the past three weeks, it’s the same thing. God is doing a work, preparing this group of women to move in unity and as a sisterhood into waters - though they may be over our head and swirling about us - where healings will take place, where deliverance will be abundant, where burdens will be revealed, and ministries will spring up.
I honestly do not know how He is going to do this.
I was most nervous about tonight, and know that I can admit that here, in the safety of this sisterhood.
I am so not a Moses, but definitely so not an Aaron. It terrified me to think of standing in front of you and delivering what He gave to me. I know how difficult it is for me to verbally communicate things that I feel so deeply. I always walk away feeling like I wasn’t quite able to express it all adequately.
But…I trust Him.
I trust the confirmations he’s put in place every step of the way these past few weeks. He has put together a team of women with magnificent abilities and talents and - more than anything else - that share a common vision and burden. This is you. ALL of you.
All He’s asking of us tonight is - this one thing.
I can look back over last year and now see how You’ve moved us from the scattered places we all were to the united place where we now stand together, ready to wade out into those deeper waters we heard about last night.
Last year it was all about caring for the health of our women - spiritually, sure, but also physically and emotionally. We covered relationship issues, insecurity issues, trust issues and used team building exercises to help us learn to overcome some of the common boundaries that tend to separate us women. By the end of the year, the unity was there. We could look around our feet and see the bits of crumbled walls that You brought tumbling down amongst us.We’re ready for this time.
Do you want to know what we’re going to do?
We’re going to reach our family, one member at a time.
We’re going to tell people about the love of God – one person at a time.
We are going to hold positions. We may teach Sunday school, bake peanut brittle, visit the shut-ins, help with outreach, encourage a neighbor – but you know what? We’ll do it all just one step at a time.
We are going to hold an awesome, awesome fall retreat right here in our own church for all of our ladies as well as ladies in neighboring UPC churches. How are we going to do this? How are we going to fund this great undertaking? One M&M tube at a time.
We are one body, one unit. We are ready, equipped, and able to grasp hands and move as one into these waters. In my mind’s eye, I can truly see all the various fingers of the church merging together just like those tributaries that he talked about last night. We’re all merging into the same mighty flow of revival waters.
One thing is all that is needed.
Do you want to find YOUR one thing this year?
Do you feel like the woman in the skit who was trying to haul a wagon load of burdens all on her own? Do you feel spent, tired, void of energy, run down, depleted, irritated, agitated, restless, useless, overworked, underpaid, underappreciated?
God never intended for this journey to be work. He never intended for it to be hard. We’ll have hard days, sure. We’ll have a few hard trials. We’ve have some hard decisions. Some hard losses.
But this journey was created to be joyful. All over the world, people go to unimaginable lengths to find God – which is sad when you consider the unimaginable lengths God has already gone to find us.
He only asks one thing of each of us tonight. One thing.
He wants to give us the freedom He spoke of in Luke 10:42 – But one thing is needful. That one thing will always include true intimacy with Him.
I can’t do everything, but I can do “one thing.”
I can’t meet every need, fulfill every requested obligation, please everyone, but I can respond to His quiet voice and I can seek His will.
I can’t carry all loads that may get passed off to me, but I can carry the load that God has for me. Just for me.
His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.
One thing. That’s all He asks of us tonight.
To borrow a phrase from a friend of mine, “Sometimes we have to say no, to good things, so we can do the best thing.”
And - that too - is achieved one thing at a time.
February 1, 2008 @ 6:54 am | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project
I woke up at four this morning, unable to return to sleep.
Monday night is on my mind, and I in in no way at all feel prepared yet to present what I feel on my heart for this year. Yet the past couple of weeks have been a reminder that I need not feel anxious or, really, even uncertain.
Last night as I soaked in a tub full of bubbles, I read again over the story of Mary and Martha. Inside of me, I know without a doubt everything that I want to see happen in the lives of the ladies this year. It’s almost like I can feel it just on the horizon. I guess this is what would be considered “the burden.”
God, how on earth do I communicate this burden?
Hopefully God hears bathtub prayers because that’s what I offered up to Him last night. The message seems so simple. Both women were friends of Jesus. Both women had unique talents and abilities. I have no doubt that Mary herself had served a great number of meals and - most likely - Martha had her own moments of listening instead of doing.
The fact that Jesus pointed out on this one occasion that “only one thing is needed,” and that Mary has “chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her,” doesn’t at all mean that Mary was any closer to Jesus or that He thought any less of Martha. On another given day, it could be that service was the “only one thing.” But on this day, Jesus taught and Mary - in her hunger for more - was the one to sit at His feet.
“Her fault was not that she served.” Charles Spurgeon spoke of Martha in one of his devotionals. “The condition of a servant well becomes every Christian. Her fault was that she grew ‘cumbered with much serving,’ so that she forgot him and only remembered the service.”
I know all too well the tendency to feel trapped by saying ‘yes’ to one too many projects, committees, or programs - all in the name of service. It’s all too easy to let my heart be pulled away from doing things “unto the Lord” and instead just be thankful for simply getting things done.
God, how on earth do I communicate this burden?
Last night, in that gentle way that He has with me, His reminder was that it’s not about me. Not at all.
It’s not my responsibility to pinpoint an exact plan of how to present this year’s vision. I am one woman, and not a Superwoman, at that. I have a burden, yes, but it’s more of seeing everything in shadows; knowing what’s out there and yet not being able to pinpoint it exactly.
“Remember the ‘one thing.’”
This reminder in a still, small voice made me smile.
Earlier in the morning I had been reading a sidebar in a book called The Practical Power of “One Thing.” As I had quickly skimmed the four short bullet points, I was amazed at how closely those four points echoed the past week of my life.
These two really jumped out at me.
2. Ask God to reveal the next step. As you go through your day, keep asking the Lord, “What is the one thing I need to do next?” Don’t let the big picture overwhelm. Just take the next step as he reveals it…
After last Sunday night’s service, I have come to view my days as working out this First Step that He’s given to me. Each time this week that I’ve been tempted to jump ahead, think ahead, or worry ahead, I’ve reminded myself of Step One. Blinders on until Step One is complete.
3. Have faith that what needs to get done will get done. Since you have dedicated your day to the Lord, trust that He will show you the one thing or many things that must be done. Do what you can in the time allotted. Then trust that what wasn’t accomplished was either unnecessary or is being taken care of by God.
Okay, here is where the smile turned into a full-on grin. I may have even laughed out loud. My mind immediately went back to last week, to the conversation with *him* when he told me that he takes care of everything that he can possibly get his hands to that have been entrusted to him and then he simply trusts God to take care of the rest.
I know he thinks I don’t always listen to him. But I do. I heard loud and clear. And - last night in my tubside impromptu devotion time - I was reminded of his words.
This year will be a slow-but-steady gaining of momentum and action. It began last Monday night at the planning session. Throughout this week, anointed emails have flown back and forth between committee members. On more than one occasion I’ve read something that someone has sent to the group and I’ve simply sat here at my computer and wept.
God is doing a work. It’s not about me. It’s not about one person, or one group, or even one church. It’s about something vibrant that is about to come to fruition. It’s about reconciling the Mary and the Martha within each of us.
One thing is all that is needed.
That one thing is true intimacy with Him.
And - that too - is achieved one thing at a time.
