He was gone. Four-days dead. And no amount of begging or pleading was going to put life back into those bones.

She’d tried that already. Sent her friends to get her Jesus, the One she knew could arm wrestle death and come out with a win. But He was eerily silent, choosing to stay where he was rather than belly up to the crisis table. Strange that he delayed, uncharacteristic based on the open love he’d previously shown. Hissing whispers tempted her to question Him, or at least his loyalty. Who would refuse to come at the hour of a friend’s deepest need? Apparently Jesus would. And He did. And Martha struggled to make sense of it.

Grief and confusion are an explosive combination. It’s painful to endure a loss. It’s an exponential pain to endure a loss that could have been prevented. The injustice of unnecessary grief ignites rage like little else. The soul screams, WHY?

For centuries Martha has been getting a bad rap for her childish tattling on a sister who wouldn’t help her clean up the kitchen. And although it’s true she once sounded much like my boys arguing over who folded the most laundry or put away the most dishes, there was another moment when wisdom trumped immaturity. And at that moment, the moment of her profound grief, Martha pulled out a whopper:

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’” ~ John 11:25-26

Wowza. Did you see that? At a crossroads of questions, Martha was confident of her Jesus. She may have been drowning in unknowns, but she chose to hang on to what she knew for a fact. “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Without diminishing his reality or questioning his role, she stood firm in His “I AM”-ness, without understanding a lick about the rest.

That’s a whopper of a lesson for all of us.

September 27, 2009   //   Devotional, Michele   //   No Comments   //  

“As Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to them.” Mark 10:38

How nice is Martha? It appears that without hesitation Martha has opened her home to 13 weary travelers and is preparing to feed them a delicious meal. What could be wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing is wrong with this woman’s servant heart. Would I be that gracious? I would like to think I’m flexible and would open my home on a whim to anyone, but the truth is, I like advanced notice. I like to have my home in order before anyone graces my doorsteps. I like to look through recipe books and choose just the right meal for my guests, and then try it out on my family weeks before. I like to have my hair just so and my lipstick on before the doorbell rings. Yes, I definitely prefer planning over spontaneity.

And that is where the problem lies in this story. Like Martha, I think entertaining Jesus and his disciples is a great idea, but I tend to get so caught up in the details that worry sets in. And if Worry enters, his siblings, Anxious, Snappy and Rude are right around the corner.

In Martha’s case she festered about all the work she had to do and how her sister wouldn’t lift a finger to help. Her anxiety led her to actually, dare I say, tattle on her sister to Jesus. Now before you think that you are the mature adult who would never “tell” on anyone, have you ever had those moments where you just needed to point out to someone else all that you were doing? Let them know that you were serving when no one else was? I know I have.

“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.’” Luke 10:41-42

Jesus was not saying that serving is wrong, He was saying that worry is wrong. I believe when our focus is on the One we are serving, the details fall into place. Yes, serving is work, but imagine how easy the work is when there is no room for worry?

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:25 -26

Jesus places extraordinary value on each of us, whether we serve or whether we sit at His feet. What He doesn’t care for is worry.