Too Blessed to Be StressedSample

"Ride ‘Em, Cowgirl!"

Read Luke 10:40

I’ve always sympathized with Martha of the Mary/Martha sister duo. Martha was zipping around cleaning, cooking, running errands … doing all that needed to be done to host a passel of dinner guests.

I totally get that. How will things get done if someone doesn’t DO them? How will the bronco get broken if someone doesn’t take the bull by the horns and ride him?

Is that cowgirl usually you?

So while the chickens were strutting around fully feathered and a mountain of unpeeled potatoes avalanched on Martha’s head, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, contentedly listening. “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out” (Romans 12:2).

Martha probably would have loved to lounge around listening to the Messiah too, but she was too distracted. “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40)

Many of us identify with Martha. We yearn to focus our attention on Jesus but we’re distracted by our perpetual to-do lists too. So much to do, so little time. Don’t fib now – haven’t you ever jotted down your grocery list in church?

Jesus’ response to distracted Martha shakes me to my cowgirl core: “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better …” (Luke 10:41)

What? Didn’t Jesus realize his dinner would never materialize if everyone sat at his feet? How did he expect the grapes would get squeezed, the bread dough kneaded, the chickens fricasseed?

Hmm. Maybe, just maybe – he was trying to tell us that hearts are more important than stomachs. “You [Papa God] will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3)

Additional Elements:
BFF (Blessed Friends Forever) prayer: My Beloved Savior, help me buck all distractions today and focus solely on You. Amen.

Digging Deeper: Read Psalm 119:59-61