How to Be at Peace in the Busy-ness

Whew!  Life can be busy and bothersome at times, can’t it?!

Schedules, calendars, appointments, errands, meals, laundry, relationships, budgets, career, family, housework, pets, parents, children ….

And the list goes on … and on … and on …

How does a believer survive in the midst of the crushing demands?  How can one remain a person of excellence while living in a world of mediocrity?

How can one person assure that life is consumed with the right stuff and not mere distractions?

On any given day of any calendar week of the year, the resolve that it takes to accomplish my “to-do” list is exhausting.  And you know what?!  I love every single minute of it!

Why do I love the busy-ness and thrive in the consuming schedule?  It’s simply because of one familiar Bible story that changed my life nearly 40 years ago.

"Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.  She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His Word.  But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?  Then tell her to help me.”    But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things …

 But only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42

It’s all about what we choose to be the main part and not the minor part of our ordinary lives.  I have discovered in my extremely swamped life of deadlines, expectations, reminders, goals, dreams and commitments … that One Thing comes first.  One thing always comes first.

My focus must remain on Him and not on the stuff.  I must give to Him the first part … and therefore the best part … of my day.

It’s Christianity 101.

If you find yourself sinking under the relentless call of an overloaded schedule, you might want to take some advice from the life of Mary and her frustrated sister, Martha.

Choose the good part of life.  It is really all that is necessary.

Choose to spend time early in the day with the One Who goes to the heart of your issues.  Welcome Him into your life and set yourself strategically at His nail-scarred feet.  Listen to His Word with delight and submission.

Don’t be distracted with the voices that call the loudest.  His loving voice may actually be the softest but it is also the most important voice you will ever hear.  He wants you to choose to listen to Him and not to the cacophony that the tornado of the urgent creates.

We all have preparations that seem imperative at the moment.  Like Mary, and like Martha, we all must make a choice of value and priority in those intense moments of life.

Will you choose the things that worry and bother you?  Or will you sit at His feet and be captivated by His presence?

I choose to be in awe and wonder that He has chosen to dine with me in the hovel of humanity that I have built.

He chose to come to me … to my life.  And now, I must give to Him the best part of who I am.  Everything else is just stuff.

He is my One Thing that is truly necessary.

Deadlines come and go … demands change their tone of voice … the page of the calendar month will turn.  But He never changes.  He is the Constant in an unstable and urgent life.

Every one of us must choose.  We all have the opportunity to be frustrated or to be faithful.  We have the power to select those things that consume the best part of every day of every month of every year.

My choice is clear and certain … like Mary … I love being at His feet.  I love marinating in the Words that He speaks.  I love Him.

The miracle that happens when you and I choose the good part is that the rest of the day is ordered and productive.  I am able to move mountains of details and accomplish endless lists of tasks with ease and in a timely fashion. 

And even when something remains unfinished … or someone is disappointed with my effort … or there are phone calls that have not yet been returned … or a deadline that looms still … my heart is at peace.  When I give Him my best … He gives me His perspective.

And so today I choose.  I choose the good part which shall never be taken away from me.  I choose a position of submission.  I choose not to embrace frustration, worry or bother but to celebrate His presence in my ordinary life!