"Lord, don't You care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?"
Martha said that to Jesus Himself, standing in her own house, with Him sitting a few feet away (Luke 10:40). Most of us have felt some version of it, even if we never said it out loud. We are tired, we are carrying the load, and it seems like somebody else is getting the easy part.
Here is what makes this story worth a slow read. Martha was not doing anything wrong on paper. She was doing something good, but in the wrong order.
Luke says Martha welcomed Jesus into her home (Luke 10:38). She invited Him in. She wanted Him there. Then she got so busy preparing for the guests that she lost track of who they were. The word Luke uses for how she felt carries the picture of being pulled in every direction at once.
Notice that Jesus never told her to stop serving. Later, in John 12:2, Martha is serving at a supper in Bethany again, and there is no rebuke. In John 11:27, she is the one who stands at her brother's grave and says plainly that she believes Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. This woman had real faith. What Jesus corrected was her distraction, not her service.
He said her name twice. "Martha, Martha." Anyone who has heard a parent or a pastor say your name that way knows it is not a scolding. It is a hand on the shoulder. Then He told her she was worried and troubled about many things, and that only one thing was needed. Mary had chosen that one thing, and it would not be taken from her.
He did not tell Mary to get up and help. He defended her right to sit. That tells you what Jesus values most.
Before Jesus asks you to do anything for Him, He asks for your company.
That last one hurts. I wrote about how presence slips away at home in being there is not the same as being present, and Martha's story is the same problem pointed at God instead of at your kids or extended family.
That phrase deserves a second look. Jesus says the same thing about anxiety in the Sermon on the Mount, when He tells us to stop worrying about what we will eat and wear (Matthew 6:25-34). A crowded schedule and a worried heart usually travel together. If you want to see what Jesus says about that, read why your worry cannot add one day to your life. And if you keep wondering whether God's presence is really within reach on an ordinary day, His presence is available right now, not just after the dishes are done.
You do not need a retreat. You need a place to sit. Tomorrow, before the first email or the first demand, put the phone in another room. Read a few verses from one of the Gospels slowly. Then stop talking and listen. If your mind goes straight to the to do list, write it down and come back. Do that for ten minutes and see what happens to the rest of your day.
Martha's house was blessed because Jesus was in it. Yours can be too, whether the table is set or the laundry is done or not.
If you want help making room for Him, I wrote Presence Driven for exactly that, and you can get your free copy of the ebook at jonathanvorce.com.
Remember..."The Word Will Work, If You Work the Word."
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