There’s only one thing needed. Just one.
Eighty things beckon loud and insistent. The laundry stacked to near ceiling. The dishes piled by the sink. But he said it, so it must be true.
“Martha, Martha, 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.” (see Luke 11:38-42)
He reminded me of this word last week because he saw my heart behind all the good things. Behind the morning quiet with him and behind the training up of my kids. Distracted. Worried. Troubled.
By Thursday I felt it heavy. And as I finished up my nightly tasks, with slight irritation on my face, he drew me. I had sensed it coming, this raw time of confession and renewal. A moment of sitting at his feet like Mary. Quiet. Focused. Pressing in. Worshipping.
Once the kids were down I turned all distractions off and grabbed my duct-taped Bible. I flipped through its familiar pages to an unfamiliar passage in Jeremiah. And I lingered.
Just like a Daddy who disciplines his own — out of love and for our good — he calls us to linger. Yes, clothes need washing and meals need preparing, but first the one thing. The one needed thing.
Fill me, Lord…
What distracts you from the “one thing” these days?
How can you choose to linger at his feet today?
It’s like you peeked into my life of late. I always wonder why it’s so easy to become distracted and weighted with “stuff”. Then I’m reminded, yet again, it’s because I’ve taken my eyes off Him and started looking at everything else around me. Help me, Lord, to keep those blinders on so I only see You and your goodness!
Oh friend, I’m right there with you. Running beside you with the same struggles. Unless we are diligent to keep our eyes fixed, they too easily slip down to all this temporal “stuff.” He is so gracious to draw our hearts back, over and over again.
Wow – that has been my last few weeks! Rushing, rushing and trying to cram everything into a few hours and it’s NOT working. Thank you for the gentle reminder to go back and start at the beginning!
Mmm…lingering at His feet. Too often, I “stop in” then move on to the next thing…time with Him should never be on the “checklist” of the day – it should be the foundation of it. Thank you, dear one, for the reminder to turn off distractions (i.e. tweetdeck, cell phone, gmail, facebook, to-do list, etc.) and rest in Him – letting Him take me back to the beginning.
Thank you for sharing your own struggles. I have definitely found that in the last weekend the “tyranny of the urgent” has overtaken my life. I also have found myself distracted. Even in my quiet time I am thinking more about how I can share what I am learning with others instead of just learning! Thank for the reminder to get back to the source. The one thing. Love it!
“Even in my quiet time I am thinking more about how I can share…instead of just learning.” Such a temptation for anyone in “ministry.” He calls us to share and spur one another on, but I’m like you, if I feel like that is overtaking my focused, alone time with him then I’ve got things all twisted up. Thanks for sharing!