Week 6 Part 1 Balancing Work and Worship
“Luke’s story of Mary and Martha is found between two famous passages:
the story of the Good Samaritan (LUKE 10:30-37) and Christ’s teaching on the Lord’s
prayer (LUKE
11:1-4) One deals with our relationship with people, the other deals
with our relationship with God. One teaches us how to serve and the other
teaches us how to pray. One breaks down the wall that divides cultures, the
other breaks down the wall that divides God and humanity”
Maybe our story of Mary, Martha and Jesus is the center point that
keeps work and worship balanced. When we
have the fundaments in truth of service and prayer, we can enjoy the rest
without being overwhelmed.
We all can admit that we struggle to keep that balance. I certainly
have lately. I have to remind myself that I am not perfect when it comes to
balancing the different areas of my life.
I can only strive to do better, to be more like Jesus. Jesus was the
most balanced individual the world has ever known. For example, in the parable of the Good
Samaritan, Jesus was asked “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Simple
question and a good one for one who want to go to heaven. But the one asking
the question was trying to set Jesus up. Jesus simple asked back “What is
written in the Law”. See the one asking was well educated in the Law of the Old
Testament.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as
yourself” responded the man “you have answered correctly, Do this and you will
live.”
God wants us to not only love HIM but our neighbors too. That is the
answer to a perfect balanced life. God wants us to REALLY love Him and He wants us to love each other. REALLY love each other. That is how we KNOW we belong to God, if we have love
one for another. SEE John 13:35
Love for God + love for others = worship and service. The love of God
has to be first but it cannot be separated from the love of others. One flows
from the other and back again. That’s what it means to live a balanced life, a Christ
like life.
It is easy to love the people we know, our family and friends but that
is not the extent of it. We are to love those we don’t know, those that may
have hurt us in some way, those that are for whatever reason are looked down
upon by our society.
It’s easy to love God, to worship Him. BUT there is MORE-more
to this balanced Christian walk than ONLY worship. There are people who find it
so easy to love people. Love serving them and helping them in whatever way they
can. BUT there is MORE to this balance Christian walk
than ONLY serving. You may have heard people say, “She is such a
good person. Always volunteering to help. Give of her time and money to helping
other. She would give the shirt off her back for someone”. BUT are they only serving?
You see we need to spend time BOTH
in the “living room” and the “kitchen”, worshiping and serving, loving God and
loving people.
CHECK AND BALANCE
Because we were created for balance, we feel the difference in our
souls when our lives tilt too far in one direction or another. The imbalance
will show in our attitudes and our energy level and in the way we interact with
other people.
SIGNS THAT YOU MAY
NEED MORE TIME IN THE KITCHEN
Slight depression. You feel a vague unhappiness, a sense of
being down
Resentment of intrusion: Rather than welcoming people in
your life, you find yourself wishing they’d go away
Frustrations over direction of life: You feel a sense of
purposelessness and sometimes wonder, “Is this all there is ?”
Increased self-indulgence. You feel an itch to treat
yourself with a favorite food or shopping
Apathetic attitude. You find that very little moves you. You
know your compassion level is low, but part of you just doesn’t care.
Low energy level. Like the Dead Sea, you may have many
inlets, but no outlets- and therefore you’re growing stagnant.
SIGNS THAT YOU MAY
NEED MORE TIME IN THE LIVING ROOM
Irritability and frustration. You find yourself snapping at
people, wound so tight you’re about to “snap” yourself and especially short-tempered
with those you perceive as lazy or uncooperative.
Uncomfortable with quiet. Silence makes you nervous, so you’re
qick to turn on the TV or the radio.
Low joy threshold. It’s been a long time since you’ve sensed
that undercurrent of joy and abundance running through your heart.
A sense of isolation. You feel alone, as if no one is there
for you and no one understands.
Increased drivenness. You’re haunted by a sense that you
must do more and more. You keep volunteering for more projects and more
committees (more work shifts…that’s my
addition), even though you know your plate is full
Sense of dryness and emptiness. No wonder! You have many
outlets and demands, but no inlets or source of strength.
WEEK 6 PART 2 HAVING A MARY HEART IN A MARTHA WORLD
Is it really possible to live a balanced life of Living Room Intimacy
and Kitchen Service? Yes, but will we
ever have that perfect balance? I don’t think so, but we have to keep pressing
on like Paul said. “Press hold of that for which Christ Jesus too hold of me” Philippians 3:12.
When we feel overwhelmed at being in the “Martha “ world, say this
prayer. “O Lord, I am yours. Take my struggles and use them for your glory. But
whatever you do, please don’t leave me the same. Change me. Give me a Mary
heart in my Martha world.” If you are
being “outweighed in your Mary world, say the prayer this way. “O Lord I am
yours. Take my struggles and use them for your glory. But whatever you do,
please don’t leave me the same. Change me. Give me a Martha heart in my Mary
world”.
When we have trials, struggles and pains. Keep reminding yourself that
you are a work in process. God will use different methods to refine us to be
more like his son, Jesus. We may not always understand his methods, but he can
and will use it for His glory. We need
to just surrender and let Chrsit work in us.
Our transformation is a process of perseverance, keeping on keeping on.
Do what we can and let God do the rest.
It is perseverance that allows God to take our messes and turn them
into miracles. ( That reminds me of a song I have sung called ‘He makes
beautiful mistakes’) God delights in
transforming us to what He wants us to be. If any of you do some sort of craft,
don’t you get excited about the process and when the finished project is done,
you are proud of your creation. That is what God does too. I am sure.
I have made some crochet afghans that were painful at time. Miss a
stitch, miscounted, the tension was not the same and had to take it out and
start over. Sometime the process of our transformation can be painful, but the
finish product is awesome. I guess you can say it’s like childbirth.
There is a Japanese
version of the 23rd Psalm that goes like this:
The Lord is my
pace setter… I shall not rush.
He makes me stop
for quiet intervals
He provides me
with images of stillness which restore my serenity.
He leads me in the
way of efficiency though calmness of mind and his guidance is peace
Even though I have
a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret,
for his presence is here
His timelessness,
his all importance will keep me in balance
He prepares refreshment
and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility.
My cup of joyous
energy overflows.
Truly harmony and
effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the pace of
my Lord and dwell in his house forever.
James tells us to, “ Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you
face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
Then End.
Enjoy the song "Beautiful Mistakes"
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