What Matters Most
musings on the mundane and magnificent from a Christian perspective
Fall is upon us, and I, for one, am excited! I’m ready to do some baking, break out my fall candles, and cheer on my college football team this weekend. School is back in session and routines are resuming. Everything is gearing up for a busy, productive season.
And that is a good thing. Summer brought some much-needed down time, so we can handle things picking back up. As long as we go about it with the right perspective, as long as we remember one thing.
The Bible tells of a time when Jesus went to visit two of his friends, Mary and Martha. Martha busied herself with preparing food and serving her guests, while her sister, Mary, sat with Jesus and hung on His every word. Martha complained to Jesus that Mary had left her with all the work to do.
Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, … you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41, 42 NIV
I can be like Martha more than I care to admit. Why is it so easy to become so distracted? Why does busyness so quickly consume us? Why is the focus on the “one thing” so hard to maintain?
We are busy people. We have jobs, we have families, we have bills. We have people whose lives we want to invest in and people who depend on us. We have commitments, deadlines, and households to manage. And we want to be faithful in all these things. We genuinely want to do a good job with all that’s on our plate.
I think God knew what the pace of life would be in our day. He knew we’d have full schedules and good intentions. That’s why He told us beforehand to remember the one thing. Which is what, exactly?
I think the one thing Jesus was referring to was Himself. Mary was close by Jesus, sitting at his feet in the posture of a disciple, listening to Him. The one thing is relationship with Jesus; it’s maintaining intimate connection with Him, despite all that’s happening around you.
An important aspect of this is guarding. If the one thing is the main thing, then we must hold on to it. We must actively work to maintain it. The Bible exhorts us in Proverbs 4:23 (NET), “Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.” So, we guard our hearts when emotions swell, when circumstances swirl out of control, when stress surges. We guard against weariness, against distractions, against anything that sucks the life out of us. We guard our time, our priorities, our energy. And we fervently guard against distractions from the one thing.
We guard our lives by maintaining a laser-like focus on God, His Word, and His presence in our daily lives. We stay connected to Jesus, let His strength energize us, and let that carry us through our busy days. And we stay closely connected to other believers who can help us as we live our lives in pursuit of this one thing.
What does this look like in our lives practically?
- Spend time with God daily in His Word and in prayer. This is our lifeline.
- Share your life with other trusted believers and be accountable to them. Join a small group. Share prayer requests. Share your heart.
- Take an overview of your schedule and make sure it reflects what’s important to you. If you need to drop something from your schedule, do it, and don’t feel guilty.
- Take breaks when you need to. Take care of yourself. Sleep, exercise, and quality food go a long way.
- Make time for people. Phone calls, texts, and definitely face to face time – whether that’s long lunches where you can really catch up or simply running errands together. Take care of others. And let them take care of you.
This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, and it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. But hopefully it’s a timely reminder as we enter the busy fall season:
We can be busy without letting busyness consume us. We can balance multiple competing demands without succumbing to stress. We can conquer our to-do list without growing weary.
We just need to remember one thing.
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:31 NASB
I’m pretty sure if you looked up “creature of habit” in the dictionary, you’d find my picture, one where I’m sporting the same haircut I’ve had for the last twenty years. My keys always go in the exact same spot. I gravitate to the same few restaurants, and once there, I tend to order the same few things. My “usual” has never failed me.
So, I can understand how the Israelites must have felt when they found themselves in a position where being creatures of habit wasn’t an option. In the retelling in Deuteronomy chapter 8, we read of a time when they found themselves in a desert, surrounded by sand, with no food in sight. They had left captivity in Egypt in the most astounding and glorious way, but they had not yet arrived at the homeland God had promised them. They were en route to destiny, and they had gotten hungry along the way.
God had the solution for their hunger, but it was something new, something different. He tells them in Deuteronomy 8:3 that it’s something “which neither you nor your fathers had known.” And again in Deuteronomy 8:16, he describes it as “something your fathers had never known.”
What is this strange new thing? And why is it pointed out, not once, but twice that it’s something new?
Manna. A fine, flakey substance used to make bread. Scripture tells us it tasted like wafers with honey. And it was a new item on the menu.
The Israelites were on a new course, one that was leading them to their promised land. They had new hope in their hearts. They had new commandments to live by. And they had new food in their bowls. Everything they were encountering was new – except for their God.
They had to trust that their God remained the same – faithful and trustworthy – even when everything else around them was new. They couldn’t base their trust on what was familiar and comfortable. They had to enlarge their perspective and place their trust solely on God – not on routine, not on comfort, not on predictability.
They had to have new faith in a new season, to trust God regardless of the circumstances. And that trust had to lead them to obedience, to picking up the manna and eating it, even though it was foreign.
It was a test of faith, and they passed. By eating the manna day in and day out, they were acknowledging God as their provider. They were accepting what He gave them, event though it looked different from anything they’d seen before, even though it wasn’t what they expected.
Certainly, there are things in my life that look vastly different from everything I ever expected. The story God’s given me looks so different from what I always pictured. But like the Israelites, I need to trust Him anyway. I need to hold on to Him and just eat the manna when it comes, even if I don’t understand it, even if it looks different. I need to trust the Source.
Why is it that my house is always cleanest right before a trip? While I’m doing loads of laundry to pack and making sure the dishes are done, I figure I might as well hit the floors and clean out the fridge. Then, I put fresh sheets on the bed and finish with Febreze on the couches, and before I know it, my house is squeaky clean and smelling good – just in time for me to leave it.
This week is no different. I’m flying to DC and then headed to Virginia for Thanksgiving week at my sister’s house. So, I’ll have to wait a week to enjoy my cleared off counters and my clean bathrooms. And that’s fine by me. I’m ready for a getaway. I’m ready to see my family.
The last getaway I had was in the opposite direction. Earlier this year, we flew to south Florida and then drove down to the Keys for a week of exploring and eating under the summer sun. This is an excerpt from my journal in June.
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In Islamorada
I traveled today to a part of Florida I have never known – a place where poincianas bloom and roosters roam, a place that owes so much to the aquamarine water surrounding it. As we drove from our resort, across the seven-mile bridge, to Key West – to the very edge of America – I noticed a subtle shift. Mangroves replaced live oak trees. Traffic and strip malls gave way to water. And peace settled in place of preoccupation.
Vacation is a good thing, especially in a place as beautiful as this. The water is unlike anything I’ve ever seen! It’s as green as it is blue. And it’s everywhere you look, this vast, fluorescent water that’s waiting to be waded into. Water like that is worth the drive, and it refreshes my soul to see it.
Refreshing. If I could describe what I want from this trip in one word, that would be it. And isn’t that what vacation is all about?
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I will fully satisfy the needs of those who are weary and fully refresh the souls of those who are faint.
Jeremiah 31:25 NASB
A Soul Refresh
I love that we read “fully” twice in this verse, as if to really drive home the point that God is able to fully meet our needs. Fully, completely, perfectly. Not partially. He is able to meet our needs when they need to be met and exactly how they need to be met.
Also, the footnote for Jeremiah 31:25 in the New English Translation (NET) explains that the verb tense used is the “prophetic perfect,” meaning “the actions are as good as done.” The emphasis is on the surety of God meeting our needs. Since we have this promise, we don’t need to doubt if our needs will be met. It’s as good as done. He will fully satisfy our needs and fully refresh those who are faint.
And it doesn’t take a vacation to do it.
So, as we enter the holiday season and the hustle and bustle it can bring, I hope we remember to pause and rest in the midst of the busyness, to come to Him with our needs, and to tap into His ever-flowing stream of refreshing.
“The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs… You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:11 NIV
Happy holidays to you!
Psalm 59 is such a sweet psalm to me. Admittedly, it starts out with some not-so-sweet language as David compares his enemies to a pack of hungry, angry dogs. But he eventually shifts his focus back to God. And the words that stand out to me, the sentiment that is so sweet to me, is his confident assurance in the Lord’s presence and protection, his faith even in the midst of an overwhelming situation.
When David prayed these words, he was literally trapped. In 1 Samuel 19, we read that he was trapped in his house as Saul’s men encamped around it, waiting to kill him. His enemies surrounded him, but he knew that even more so, the protection of God surrounded him. “You, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.” Psalm 59:9 NIV
We see a similar account in 2 Kings 6:15-18. The King of Aram waged war against the people of God. The prophet Elisha was instrumental in their defense strategy, resulting in their victory at every turn. So, the King of Aram made Elisha his target. Under the cover of night, his troops advanced one by one until an army surrounded Elisha’s city.
In the morning, he and his servant awoke to an onslaught. But Elisha was unmoved because that was not all he saw. He told his companion, as they took in the warriors, the horses, the chariots all lined up against them, “Don’t be afraid…Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2 Kings 6:16 NIV
“And Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
2 Kings 6:17 NIV
In the face of insurmountable odds, Elisha had a choice. He could look at the enemy’s army or he could look at what God was doing. And Elisha chose to see the big picture – the angelic protection that was there all along. He chose to see through the eyes of faith.