Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- October 30, 2012
“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 few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42
Busyness can breed a bad attitude. It creates an expectation that everyone should be involved in hyper activity for the Lord. Unfortunately, what started out as sincere service for Jesus becomes a demanding spirit cloaked in spiritual slogans. The graceless pace of a busy person is worried and upset at God that more people don’t have their same sense of urgency. Because busyness has no mental, emotional or spiritual margin it misses the Lord’s bigger priority of prayer. It’s tired.
It is not what we do for God that matters most—what matters most is what God does through us. If we lunge through life we hit and miss finding Jesus, but if we sit at His feet with patient expectations we can hear His voice. Desperation is required around our being not our doing. Christ doesn’t call us to neglect our health, our family and our friends in the name of good activities. Thus, we discover God’s best if we slow down and add excess margin to our schedule.
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130
Indeed, you will have seasons of stress, but not to the point of chronic anger. Adversity is your opportunity to engage in a deeper level of intimacy with the Lord and your loved ones. People are not the problem—problem solving begins by looking in the mirror. You may have to make the choice to modify your calendar. By faith postpone or cancel important, but unnecessary engagements. If you plan not to attend, the Spirit will direct someone else to stand in the gap. All are blessed!
Therefore, abandon yourself first to Christ and He will lead you into His works of service. It is much better to go deeper with a few whom you really get to know and who really get to know you, than to spend your life not knowing anyone and being known by no one. Truly knowing God begins with being with Jesus. Once you sit at His feet, you are able to look up to His face. Be still and His Spirit will fill you with wisdom and peace. Yes, grace travels at a sustainable pace!
“God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” Psalm 53:2
Prayer: Heavenly Father, protect me from busyness and lead me into a pace filled with grace.
Related Readings: 2 Chronicles 15:2; Psalm 27:4, 100:3; Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Peter 3:8-9
Post/Tweet: Busyness breeds bad expectations, but grace travels at a sustainable pace. #grace
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I do music at my church. I feel called to and am feel extremely blessed to do it. BUT I am amazed at the boundaries I feel I must erect or people will make me crazy busy. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I have been greeting this through email. I have now put the free app on my phone. Do I still need to get the email version as well? Are they both the same?
Wow, powerful message! Thank you!
Lisa, yes, it is a challenge to serve and not over commit. We all have a limited capacity and we need Christ’s wisdom and courage on when to say no. One idea is to block off times to meet with people, like Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Then you have the mornings for creative thinking, planning and problem solving. I struggle with this as well, I don’t like to let people down, but I am learning that the Lord can fill in the gaps when I am not available. Thanks for sharing your heart!
Love in Christ,
Boyd
The difficulty I face is having my family committed to a religious organization, and not seeing the same commitment from others. This is very discouraging. Not in the same vein as ‘business’ – however I can see and feel resentment build even with this commitment/lack of commitment balance, (Sunday Christians if you will). Any thoughts? Thanks, David.
David you are right, we are all in process in our commitment to Christ and how we allocate our time. I have to remind myself that I am serving an Audience of One–God and I cannot compare myself to others. Keep your eyes on Jesus and serve Him from a heart of love and gratitude. And you and others will be blessed. Thanks for sharing your heart!
A fellow servant of Jesus,
Boyd
Thank you for your reply!!!! That’s what I’ve been trying to do in my own way. Nice to have that confirmed!
Tricia, The App, blog and daily email feature the same daily devotions. It just depends on which format you prefer. Thank you for being a fellow Wisdom Hunter. – Boyd