I just finished spending a weekend with 12 other wonderful ladies and greatly enjoyed some time of relaxing, laughing, eating fabulous food, playing games, and getting in the Word.  Our theme verse for the weekend was John 3:30.  The NIV Bible says, “He must become greater; I must become less.”  The Message Bible says, “This is the assigned moment for [Jesus] to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”

We studied the sisters Mary and Martha (Lazarus, the guy Jesus raised from the dead… he’s also their brother).  John 11 tells us that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  He had a special relationship with them and cared deeply for them.  I think it’s such an amazing thing that Mary and Martha were mentioned with such care in Scripture showing us that they were important to Jesus and important for us to learn from.  WOMEN!  Important WOMEN in Scripture that set an example for us. 

I am most definitely a modern-day Martha.  I am the one who immediately unpacks after returning from vacation or any weekend out of town despite how late it may be; I’m thinking a week in advance of the day I will be cleaning and cooking and have a menu prepared for my next party at the house; a messy house drives me crazy and I feel slightly guilty when I spend a morning laying around in my PJ’s doing nothing (I should be doing laundry, looking at cookbooks for the next week’s meals, hanging the curtains I purchased over 2 months ago, be shopping for Mother’s Day and other upcoming birthdays, working on choreography for my close-approaching recital, and so much more); I believe rules/boundaries exist for a reason; and I don’t spend much time stopping to smell the roses, but immediately choose the best, cut the stems at an angle and arrange them in a vase with baby’s breath and ferns.  And honestly, I often end up exhausted.

I see from Martha (in Luke 10:38-42) that she very easily was “distracted by all the preparations that HAD to be made” to entertain Jesus and his disciples.  I’m so often distracted by all I believe HAS to be done, that I neglect quiet time with Jesus (as Mary was doing in this passage) and even quality time with Tony and other friends and family.  Martha was obviously gifted with hospitality and kept a good home and was probably a good cook.  She was the “hostess with the mostess” and a picture of what Martha Stewart would have been like had she lived in Biblical times.  Martha stayed busy and was proactive in accomplishing things both for herself and other people.  However, I believe that although she had good intentions to welcome Jesus and his disciples, she could very well have had a poor motivation - shown in her frustration with her sister sitting around doing nothing in her eyes.  I also learn from Martha in Luke’s recording, as well as an account in John, that Martha was honest about her thoughts (quite realistic) and had great faith… she knew who could help comfort and also solve her problems - Jesus - and she didn’t hesitate in times of frustration and hurt to run to him. 

And so I’m encouraged by Martha’s hard work and diligence, I relate well to her frustration with her sister… and I’m also convicted and challenged by Jesus’ response to her that she was “worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better” (Luke 10:41-42).  Jesus was encouraging her not to do more, work harder, be better… but to stop and allow herself to do less, to BE less… so that HE could be greater in her life.

We laughed much as a group deciding which sister we were most like and challenged to be very aware of the times that we begin to show indications of being in an unhealthy state in our walk with Christ as well as our relationships with other people.  I’m excited about my new friends and loved the opportunity to go a little deeper with those I already knew.  And so I encourage my fellow ladies not to ignore the hunger inside you for intimacy that can only be satisfied by a growing relationship with our Creator, and also don’t quench the craving to spend time with girlfriends.  We Marthas may have to make a plan to schedule those times and be willing to stop whatever we may be doing to make it possible, but it will ALWAYS be worth it.