Abba's Dearly Beloved

“Cease Striving and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10 (NASB)

Time is such a precious commodity these days for many people. For many of us, there just does not seem to be enough time to get done all the things we would like. It is almost like we are living in a permanent state of frantic and frenetic project management with different areas of our lives throwing ourselves from one thing to another! Our modern lives are or can very often be very busy ones where our need to move from one task to the next can leave what seems to be little room for pause for anything. We can end up feeling guilty that we have not amidst this sea of busyness spent time connecting or reconnecting with our Heavenly Father. Sometimes this turns to anger as we think God is demanding us to perform the impossible task of making time with him on top of everything else. Occasionally this turns to blame as we ask God where on earth are you in all of this, especially if we are serving in all kinds of ways within our church community. If only we would only slow down and pause for our moment.

When Jesus visited Mary and Martha in Martha’s home, Martha is a blur of energy setting about tackling with frenzied dedication the tasks of preparing food and tidying up and basically trying to be a good host to such a special guest. She then becomes understandably frustrated when her sister Mary is not lifting a finger to help but sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him, talking with him and gazing at him. No longer able to keep in her frustration and distress she says, Lord don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40). Instead of taking Martha’s side, Jesus’ response appears surprising:

Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:41-42

Many of us can really sympathise with Martha’s situation. I mean here you have Jesus, the living embodiment of Father God (John 14:9) coming to your house and you want to make sure he is well looked after, honoured and fed! However, Jesus gently reminded Martha that in her busyness, there was an absence of peace and misguided priorities that were founded on her anxieties and troubles. Though it does not say specifically, Jesus’ words “Martha Martha, you are troubled many things” can echo in our own lives when we are busy and when we invite Jesus to visit us in during frantic moments of the day, our minds are not brought to the stillness of Mary, sitting at the feet of the one who desires to enter in to our hearts, to our situations and circumstances to  fellowship with us.

At His heart is desire for deepening of relationship with us and ours with him…and it always has been. The older brother that Jesus refers to in the famous prodigal son story in Luke chapter 15 is a representation of the Pharisees and religious teachers who were listening along with the “notorious sinners and prostitutes” to him (see Luke 15:1 and 25-32). Many of these religious leaders like the older brother had got lost in the performance, legalism and duty and had lost or did not know the loving and generous heart of the God they served.

In the story when the older brother working in the fields, hears the celebrations at the home coming of his younger brother, he becomes angry and protests to his Father who comes out to plead with him to join them how he has worked hard, been obedient and received what he felt was little reward for his efforts.

His Father’s gentle reply shows the daily reward which the eldest son had missed: the close and constant presence of the love of the Father who affirms him as a son and has generously bestowed everything upon him not based on what he did but who he was.

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Luke 15:31

Jesus, the complete picture of Father God reveals in the prodigal son story, the incredible truth of Gods heart of love for us and desire for knowing who he really is and who we really are in him. It is that connection that is the basis and priority for Jesus as he came to the house of Martha and Mary. Jesus’ words to Martha and the message of the prodigal son reveals the joy of a God whose priority first and foremost is not the things we do or do not do for him (though our choices and heartfelt serving as worship to God are important) and how much we do but simply whether we respond to his call for an intimate and real relationship: That is to draw close to be loved and to know him as he really is. The words in Hosea 6:6 strongly echo this message as God reminds us as he did the people of Israel in their own wayward wandering:

I do not want your sacrifices, I want your love; I do not want your offerings, I want you [first and foremost] to know me.

Hosea 6:6 (TLB)

God longs for us to know him, that he really is the God of goodness and unfailing love and compassion as well as the author of our salvation, our strength and kingdom power and the source of our growth as branches on the heavenly vine (Psalm 34:8; 103:4; 46:1; John 15:5). The words of the psalms, the acts of the apostles or Pauls passionate declarations in the epistles are not just truth proclaimed by people who knew about God but by those who really knew God. Primarily in stillness with him can we find or rediscover the wonders of the God who gave himself for us and the gentle whispers of his hear that he shares.

Prayer: Thank you God that you call me to live a life not of striving but a life of stillness of heart lived to the full with you. Forgive me for where I have been so busy I have lost sight of you and who you are. Lead me and teach me in how to find moments to take that walk beside the waters of stillness with you to be encouraged, reminded and refreshed again about who you are and who I am. May I also discover what it is like to know you and not just about you. Let quietness and confidence in your intimate affection and presence your trustworthiness, unfailing love and your promise of new mercies every day govern and anchor my heart. Thank you, Father, that I am loved as your child now and always. In Jesus name. Amen