#1037. Lord, don’t you care? (18/4/24)

This week, in our Luke series, we’re reflecting the account of Mary and Martha. Today, let’s briefly consider how we can ensure that our busyness doesn’t turn into anger.

‘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!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”’ (Luke 10:38-42)

Luke 10:38–42

Lesson: We know that we are distracted from Jesus, rather than busy in His service, when we are regularly assaulted with anger.

To listen to this devotional, go to:

https://youtu.be/jd1eDU3ONg4

Being busy is a good thing

Being like Martha is a good thing. We are told that she opened her home for Jesus. There would have been no food if she hadn’t prepared it! Being busy can be richly rewarding, but it can also lead to great brokenness. Using our time well, will mean that we are busy and when we are filled with God’s truth and presence these seasons can be very rewarding; however, the world the flesh and devil love to make us busy for the wrong things or with the wrong attitude. Paul speaks of his exemplary and healthy God-sustained busyness:

‘But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.’ (1 Corinthians 15:10)

1 Corinthians 15:10

We can all be like Paul or like Martha in our busyness. The pressures of life, when sustained by God’s grace, are sustainable and productive.

Busyness can turn sour

The problem was that her busyness led her to anger. Why was this? What led her to attack Jesus with, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” I’m sure that we’ve all had times when we’ve felt that Jesus was not helping us as we feel He should and we’ve been tempted to judge Him. It seems to me that the heart of her problem was that she was judging Christ as being uncaring. She allowed faith in Jesus’ love for her to be overshadowed by accusations of Jesus. Being busy becomes overwhelming and angering when we lose faith that Jesus is with us and is caring for us. Added to this, busyness turns sour when it’s driven by legalism; If we get busy to earn God’s and people’s favour, we put them in our debt and attack if we don’t feel that they are paying us back for our hard work.

Response

We know that we are distracted from Jesus, rather than busy in His service, when we are regularly assaulted with anger. Martha lost faith in Jesus’ awareness and care as she became distracted and busy. If we are becoming angry in the busyness of life, it’s time to make time to listen to Jesus and have our faith in His love restored. Busyness can become like a storm. In the following account, we see the disciples make a similar accusation to Jesus:

‘Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”’ (Mark 4:38-40)

Mark 4:38–40

Today, we are not talking about how to make our lives less busy. Rather, the focus is on how faith in Christ can fill our busy lives with sustaining joy. So, as we go into each day, let’s ensure that our hearts are filled with the words:

‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation… I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’ (Philippians 412-13)