Luke 10:39-40
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
We all have heard this story and felt Martha’s problem was that she was too busy to stop to sit with Jesus. That was true. But what jumped out at me this am when reading this scripture was why she didn’t have time to sit? She was distracted.
Let’s define the word distracted.
dis⋅tract⋅ed /distræktid/
adjective
- having the attention diverted especially because of anxiety
Martha was not too busy but rather she was filled with anxiety. Being busy was how she dealt with anxiety.
Luke 10:41
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.” We don’t know what caused her anxiety. Maybe she was worried about how the house looked or having enough food in the fridge, or how she looked, or maybe filled with guilt due to sin in her life. Whatever it was that distracted her was stuck playing over and over again in her mind. Notice in the end she blurts out a resentful statement to Jesus. “And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” Scripture tells us that out of the mouth the heart speaks. Martha’s heart was hurting. It wasn’t that fact she was busy that was the problem, for she could have been fully engaged with Jesus and setting the table. No, she was mentally distracted by the anxiety within her.
Are you distracted lately from spending time with Jesus?
Don’t think it’s because you are too busy. Think deeper as to what you anxious about that you are masking with busyness. Now tell me do you really think that whatever the thousand things on your list that is the cause of your anxiety can’t be handled by Jesus? Did Martha really think Jesus couldn’t take care of the things needed around her house at the moment? I imagine that if Martha would have sat at Jesus feet that eventually the time would come that all three of them would get up and work together getting the table set and meal ready.
Don’t think for a moment that Jesus just sits around all day talking. He always is in action. He is on a mission. Sometimes he sits and talks, other times he is out healing people or speaking to crowds or confronting the Pharisees or traveling from town to town.
The next time you are distracted, take a pulse reading of your heart. Bring your anxiety to God and then listen to what he says next. He may say come and sit at my feet or he may say go in peace and carry on with what you’re doing.
Just a Thought…
