When Worry Dominates

"'...You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'" (Jesus to Martha in Luke 10:41-42)

How complicated life can become! 

At one moment, we are on a mountaintop and see everything clearly, and then as we wade into life's many deep waters, perspective can easily be replaced with foggy thinking. 

Confession time: I found myself here this last week... It wasn't fun to have gone from such clarity to so much fog so easily. 

The mountaintop of clarity was quickly replaced with a pit of sluggish mud that seemed to drag my feet down, down, down... away from simplicity, which had been producing joy. 

The worries Martha was experiencing are the types of worries I was starting to experience all. the. time. 

Let's see... How did Jesus put it? "You are worried and troubled about many things." 

Ugh. That's SO me. 

How do I explain? 

...Well, you know those days where one thing goes wrong, and then another, and then another, and so on? When that first thing goes wrong, I am faced with a choice of how I will handle it. The slightest misstep here leads to greater missteps later. 

No, no great consequence seemed to happen at first when I took the thing into my own hands. 

No, my life didn't explode. The tension in my soul only grew a little bit, so I didn't notice. 

But before long, the little bit of tension gets replaced with more tension, and then more, until I find myself grasping at anything and everything to stay afloat. 

What happened? you ask. 

I think it's the same thing that happened to Martha. She (and I) took one thing into her own hands, then another, then another, until she couldn't take any more. As a result, she had many things to worry about, and what should have been simple, delightful hospitality became frustrating and downright overwhelming. 

I love how Jesus simplifies it for us: "One thing is needed." 

Whoa, that makes it a lot less complicated! God hasn't weighed us down with the burden of figuring out every single thing that pops up in our brains -or our lives. He just gave us one task, one thing to focus on.

I'm describing the ultimate simplicity here. 

But what is that one thing? 

Good question. 

It can be summed up in a name, a beautiful, life changing name: Jesus. 

Uh, yeah, but what does that mean? 

Again, good question.

Let me put it as simply as possible. (Because I myself needed this as recently as this morning. Simple is best.) 

Actually, let me tell you what Mary was doing that Jesus liked so much.

"Mary...sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word." (Verse 39)

There is something absolutely simple and beautiful and heartwarming about this. It's the fact that she sat there, drinking in all the Jesus is and all that He said. 

She was in a position that would have given her much more access to Jesus than Martha had, for she was in a position of listening and receiving.

The psalmist had this same "one thing" in mind when he wrote, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)

Look, my friend... the psalmist's greatest desire was to be where he could see the beauty of God. 

This is the one needed thing. 

"But what," you say, "about all the things I worry about?"

Cast those cares on Him. You already know that worrying hasn't done any good. Don't you think He can do better anyways? 

Picture it like this: Your hands are so full of so many temporal things. You must put them down, turn your back on them, and turn towards Jesus. 

Oh, did you think you would have to chase after an offended Savior? No... He is the one who has been doing the chasing, and His joy is yours when you finally turn to Him and let Him have all of you. 

Maybe it's time to return to the simple, childlike awe that comes from simply taking in all that He is to you. 

Maybe it's time to forsake the many things for that one, much-needed thing. 

Maybe it's time to let Him be to you all that He is. You are sure to have more than enough.

Maybe it's time to follow Him wholeheartedly and let Him handle your life.

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14)

Live for what matters, my friends. Live for Jesus. He is more than capable of handling everything else anyways.