Fragmented and Frustrated

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 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!'” Luke 10:38-40 (NIV)

Busyness is one of Satan’s most effective tools to fragment the life of a believer.

We have places to go, things to do, and people to see. The activity never ends and the deadlines never cease. We are never finished! There are always more hills to conquer and mountains to climb. The opportunities to get swept up by the current of activity are endless. Busyness abounds!

It is possible to get so busy doing life and fulfilling expectations that you bypass meaningful communication with people. You can become so task oriented that you neglect the relationships that God sprinkles along your path. The most vital relationship that gets hindered by the culprit of busyness is our love relationship with Jesus.

Martha was exercising her gift of hospitality to benefit Jesus within her home. However, she got lost in her busyness and missed the opportunity to simply abide at Jesus’ feet. Martha thought the most important activity was extending hospitality. Yet, Jesus brought clarity to the confusion by affirming that Mary had chosen what was better (Luke 10:42).

Let me share one of my favorite quotes from one of my mentors, Dr. Johnny Hunt: “If you will give the Redeemer your time, the Redeemer will redeem your time.” What if we replaced busyness with abiding in Christ. Sometimes the most spiritual activity we can embrace is sitting at the feet of Jesus! It’s hard to sit at His feet when you are sprinting!

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell