Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I have heard this verse and read it many times throughout my life, and I have always tried to take it to heart. I believed I had a good handle on this and had thought I adhered to this principle fairly well. But recently, an event happened that showed me that no, I did not have as good of a handle on this as I had thought, and I had gotten a little off track in my focus of spending time with Him. I had unknowingly fallen into the trap of letting the busy-ness and worries of life hinder me from simply sitting at his feet.
This event I speak of occurred on the last evening of The Appeal to Heaven Conference, a conference hosted by The Inn in Franklin, North Carolina. The Appeal to Heaven Conference for years has attracted well-seasoned intercessory prayer warriors from across the nation. These men and women are also enthusiastic worshippers of the Lord and frequently operate in the prophetic gifting. By about 6:30 in the evening, the afternoon sessions had finished, and the worship service was scheduled to begin at 8 that evening. In years past, the worship service had always been powerful, blessed and had been a great venue for me to enter in and soak in the Lord’s presence on both an individual level as well as group level with my intercessory brethren. I felt like the Lord was going to move in a mighty way that night and I so desperately wanted to go to the worship service but… I had fallen behind in some housework and other errands that I needed to do, and I wanted to get those things done. Plus, I figured the worship service was going to be jam packed and I didn’t feel like being in an overcrowded room. I prayed a brief prayer about what I should do, and I felt an unction of the Lord in my spirit say, “What is it you want to do? Do it.” Well, after some thought and anguish, I convinced myself that I wanted to go home and get my ‘checklist’ finished. So, I reluctantly left the conference and headed home to do my much needed ‘Martha’ work. Or so I thought. As I was driving, I realized that I did not have my checkbook with me. I thought I had put my checkbook in my pocket earlier in the day and started to panic when I realized I didn’t have it with me on my way home. When I arrived at my house, I searched for it inside, hoping that I had mistakenly left it at the house. When I didn’t find it, the only place I thought it could be was at the Conference. I quickly headed back to the conference to get my checkbook and get in and out before the parking lot filled up for the worship service that night. When I arrived at the conference, miraculously there was still parking. I didn’t find my checkbook anywhere despite searching frantically for it for quite a while.
Angry, frustrated and mad at myself, I was getting ready to leave, and as I was doing so, I could hear that the worship service was about to begin. I thought to myself, why not, maybe God brought me back to the conference for a reason. Perhaps, I was being a ‘Martha’ and being busy when I could be feasting on the Lord’s presence instead. At this point, I felt the Lord speak to my spirit and say, go into the worship service, there’s room for you there and your checkbook, don’t worry about it, I’ll show you where it is later. Recognizing the error of my ways, I repented from my ‘busy’ mindset and reminded myself of what I felt God had asked me earlier that day, “What is it you want to do? Do it.” I really wanted to worship, not go home and do chores. But I had deceived myself because I was wrapped up in all that I thought I needed to do. The busy-ness of life would still be there for me tomorrow, but this opportunity, to worship with an awesome group of saints, wouldn’t be. I had already lost an hour searching for a checkbook, so what’s another hour or two in the greater scheme of things. I went to the worship service after all and am so glad I did. At this service, the Lord moved in such a powerful way, it’s hard for words to describe how powerful and beyond awesome it was. The Lord’s presence could be felt in such a strong way. As the service progressed, prophetic words were released on us, the worshippers, both as a group and as individuals. (On a side note, I have noticed throughout the years that intercessory prayer, worship and the prophetic, all go nicely together and frequently complement one another.) When the service ended, I left a refreshed and renewed person, having feasted on the Lord’s presence for well over an hour, much the way Mary had feasted when she chose to simply sit and bask.
And my checkbook? Well, I got home and had a thought to check a certain pair of shorts I had worn earlier that day. There it was. The Lord used a temporarily lost checkbook to break me out of a busy mindset that would have prevented me from abiding in and enjoying the Lord’s presence. May the Lord continue to remind us that being in and abiding in his presence is the single most important thing that any of us could ever do. Be blessed my brothers and sisters. Shalom.
–Jeff Howard
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