I got back from two busy weeks in Hungary and Bosnia. I had just over two weeks to complete the follow-up to that trip as well as the preparations for ten days in Norway. I wasn't sure how I could get it all done. I started that old refrain, "There just aren't enough hours in the day." I caught myself repeating those words before my heavenly Father and felt the Holy Spirit's tempering presence. What was I really saying?
Are the 24 hours God built into creation and therefore my existence insufficient?
No, Father, I know better than that. Nothing you give is insufficient.
Isaiah 58:11 says, "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame."
Philippians 4:19 tells me "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." If I needed more than 24 hours, Father God would give them to me.
Since 24 hours is what God gives each day, I must conclude that they are sufficient. I'm drawn on in my quest for understanding.
I notice that my days are pretty hectic a lot of the time. They don't seem to reflect the kinds of days that Jesus lived nor the kind that I read about throughout Scripture as a holy life. God gave His Son roughly 33 years on this earth and only about three of them were spent in direct ministry. I don't get the sense that Jesus was falling asleep each night worrying about what He didn't get done that day and trying to figure out how to fit more into the next one. Yet Jesus' final words report that He'd accomplished everything His Father sent Him to do. "It is finished." John 19:30 So what's wrong with my picture?
How do I get into this frenetic pace?
Father, since the 24 hours You give me each day are sufficient for what you've sent me to do, I must be confused about what you expect.
Now I have to tell you that's a shocking consideration. I spend a fair amount of time and energy figuring out what to put on my To Do List that will be pleasing to my Father. I have no doubt that the things I undertake are worthy of my attention in that light. I mean, after all, I've honed this skill over almost 40 years of being in His Son. :-)
Micah 6:8 instructs, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Ephesians 2:10 informs, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
John 15:1-8 explains the vine and the branches connection we are to have with God through Christ. The fruit of "good works" is the natural outgrowth of "remaining" in Him.
There are lots and lots and lots of meaningful and wonderful activities to undertake and services to perform in our Savior's Name. All of my days could be filled from morning to night and beyond with good-looking and productive ministry. If it's not the amount of time, maybe what I need to do is look at whether or not they are what my Father has given me to do.
Not by accident, the Holy Spirit arranged for me to be led to Luke 10:38-42 this week. It's not the first time He's highlighted this passage for me and I sense it will not be the last. I recognized that I was being challenged in my Martha life, "worried and upset about many things." I appreciated the reminder that Mary, who "sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said" was the one who had "chosen what is better." BUT His Sweet Spirit revealed to me, in the midst of this very personal quest, that Mary's choice, sitting at the feet of her Savior and listening to what her Master said is the "only one thing that is needed."
The only one thing I need to do as far as my Father is concerned is to sit at the feet of His Son, the One who secured the access I have to Him, and listen to what He says. Sit and Listen, that's it. I have to confess that it's overwhelming for a dyed-in-the-wool Martha to take in that profound Truth. ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED, TO SIT AND LISTEN TO JESUS.
I want to let you know that the process of this awareness has been slowly creeping over me. The last few months God has been blessing me in the times of daily reading and meditating and praying He's been giving me. It has called for the self-discipline He's granted me through His Spirit as explained in 2 Timothy 1:7, but it's really been the result of His grace. This latest glimpse is life-changing, but in many ways is a piece of the growth I praise Him for nurturing in me. By His grace I am becoming aware of the truth of Acts 17:28, "For in him [God] we live and move and have our being."
Of course, I know there's a long way for this old Martha to go before she feels comfortable in a Mary-type role. There have been a lot of years spent in that list-making mode. Actually, I trust my Father to use the gifts He's given me in those areas for His purposes as He moves me along His rehabilitation program. We do need to "act justly" and be about those "good works" He's got for me to do. He's already made some pretty amazing progress and I give testimony to it as the evidence of the Creator's infinite love for this undeserving creature. More and more I come to understand that each minute, each hour, each day is under His sovereign hand and as we sit and listen we will be able to see His completed providence in each of those frames.
Today I am praising our God for the intellectual, spiritual, personal, and experiential Truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Oh Father, please allow me to continue on with Paul, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
May God show His all-sufficient grace to you in the busy-ness of your life. Amen
