Who Would You Rather Be: Mary or Martha?

 Rest...

It's a tricky word. We all want it. We all enjoy it. Yet, many of us struggle to actually experience it. All the Marthas in the world are too busy trying to hold things together to actually sit at Jesus' feet. Are you one? Am I one? How do you know if you're actually being a Martha or if you're just working hard?

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with [a]all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving [b]by myself? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:38-42

What do I need to cut out to make sure I'm not being a Martha, to make sure I can sit at the Lord's feet when He is present, listen to my husband when he is talking, enjoy time with friends when they open their home? 

How do you know when your life is too busy? The Lord has called my husband and me to simplify. I'm starting to think I've done the opposite and made things more complicated than they need to be.

His call to me over the past few months was to go all in on YouTube. To me, that meant buying everything I could to make the background look nice, consistently posting to my channel twice a week, keeping up with my blog posts, making sure I'm saying the right things and singing well, going back and forth on whether or not to edit out the unpolished and imperfect parts. To Him, that meant updating the background and posting. Have I made things too complicated? It sounds like a yes to me.

Well, at this point, welcome to my diary, everyone. Lol. 

God's been calling me to be still. He's been calling me to find rest, both directly to me and through a prophetic word from someone else. I'm realizing, when He tells me to do something, I go all in, but I also don't always go to Him to ask the how. I just do what I think I can and hope I can keep it up. It sounds like an unwise way to live, relying on myself. I think I want to be done with that now.

I listened to a sermon today by Pastor Vlad Savchuk of Hungry Generation Church, and he explained how a person's overwhelm or desire to quit could be because that person is relying on his/her own strength instead of relying on God's strength. I think I've been blending the two in my life, relying on God's strength over here, relying on my own strength over there, telling myself that He's in every facet of my day but forgetting to really step back and ask Him if this is what He wants me to be doing. Because something is just not adding up. And that something is all the things I have to do paired with the not-enough-time I have to do them.

So, I guess I'm asking now, God (and also apologizing for not relying on You with everything and trusting that You know best). What will you have me do - or, rather, simplify - so I can sit at your feet like Mary?

And, I guess, readers, you'll find out the answer by my actions soon to be seen. Well, at least, I hope so.