Choosing the Best

 

Work, clean, cook, prepare, do, hurry!

Racing from one thing to the next is what I'm good at.  Checking things off my list, in time to add more things to the list. And the list stretches on and on.

Run here, run there.

I'll slow down tomorrow, next week, next month. But in the tomorrow and next week and next month there is always something else to do. I'm skilled at working my "to-do" list, but  often inept at stopping at "to-day."

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one." (Luke 10)

Many times this is me. When I stop to read and pray, I have a difficult time shutting off the thousand thoughts buzzing in my head. It's hard to focus on the task of listening. The worries and concerns drown out God's voice at times. I read a verse and a word reminds me of something I need to do.  Or a concern I have. The next thing I know, my mind is a million miles away.

Can anyone relate?

I want to live fully in the present. In "today". I want to listen attentively to the Lord's voice and hear what He wants to teach me. My busyness drowns out the silence which is where He speaks. That means I have to be like Mary, Martha's sister.  "She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said."

I'm sure Mary had just as much to do as Martha and yet, she stopped. She sat at Jesus' feet, a position of submission, and listened attentively. Mary chose the best over the busy. She chose stillness over scurrying.

Preparation and work is necessary.  I have a household to run. I have work and ministry to do. Yet, I want to be intentional in taking time each day to stop the busyness long enough...

To hear. To listen. To learn. To still my anxious thoughts.  To be present with the Lord in today.  

Won't you join me in living in the "today?"