THE ONE THING THAT MATTERED

Luke 10:38-42

At the Home of Martha and Mary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  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!”

 “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.”

My devotion this morning had this scripture in it.  It really stood out to me because I can relate to Martha.  

Can you?  

As I pondered this scripture this morning I was thinking about what this scripture looked like in my own life.

Just the other night I was asking my husband for some advice (ok maybe I was begging and pleading…I was desperate to say the least).   I felt so consumed with doubts and fear I was losing focus of Jesus.
 It doesn’t matter what the problem was, what mattered was how simple the answer was he gave me.

This was Dan’s answer to me…

“Nicole all that you can do it pray about it and give it to God and trust Him”

As I sat there I remembered how almost 8 years ago I sat with my husband in a church parking lot with him telling me the exact same thing!!!!

Can it really be that easy?  

But what about this and that and all that yucky stuff.  What if it doesn't turn out the way I want it.

There is so much we could worry about, natural disasters, death, physical illness, mental illness, starving children, murder, our children, addictions, the future, the past, the present, a messy house.  This list could go on and on couldn’t it!

The truth is this world can send you in a tail spin of worry if you let it.  I have been there and done just that.

Martha was so busy preparing she neglected to see that Jesus was right there in front of her.  She loved Jesus, but she was caught up in the moment and lost the opportunity to just be with Him and bask in His presence.

I can be Martha so often busy preparing and neglecting to sit at Jesus feet and just listen.  

I saw myself in Martha last night.  So caught up preparing and trying to clean up the "mess"

That "preparing" or "mess"  could be worry, doubting, fear, trusting, letting go......

We all have something in our lives that can obstruct our view of Jesus.

We have the choice to let our "mess"control us or let the One who cares and knows everything about that "mess" lead us!

I know it can be hard, but it is a choice we can make daily.

Mary chose to look beyond the mess and see Jesus.

She saw the one thing that mattered....
The healer and helper
The one who is always there

She didn't focus on the circumstances around her she simply sat at His feet and LISTENED.

  I am reminded today to do just that.

He loves you and desperately wants you to sit at His feet in awe of His presence. 

To listen to Him and trust Him

Disappointment.....

I had a different post to share with you (I have been slacking and haven’t posted it yet).  But after this morning I just knew the reason I haven’t.

God had a different agenda for my post!

Lately my heart has been heavy.  It seems to come and go, but it is still there, this nagging feeling that slowly begins to swallow me deeper and deeper.  There are some days I can keep my head above water and others I slowly began to sink back into that pit.

Have you been there? 

Maybe you are there right now as you read this.  

That pit in your stomach, the thoughts that just won’t go away, slowly they began to take over and perhaps you start to believe them and you let it become your truth.

This morning was one of those mornings where my heart was just plain heavy.

It was heavy with disappointments, anger and sadness.

Now that I have my girls and I am a mother I have had to reface some of my “issues” with what I witnessed and experienced growing up and what I am still experiencing as we speak.

I have spent a good portion of my life striving to be bigger than all of these “issues”.  Telling myself it will be OK.  

But the truth is……

It hurts. 

 It absolutely is not what I wanted or would have ever asked for!!  In fact sometimes I just want to know why. 

Why me Jesus?

As I sat in church this morning I was reminded of Gods truth. 

Which let me just say I NEEDED IT and THANK YOU JESUS!!

The sermon was on unanswered prayers.

One of the many things that stood out to me was this:

God answers prayer, whether or not it seems to be for our comfort it is always for Gods glory!

As I sat there I was flooded with emotion.  Feelings of disappointments from my past present and the future began to flash through my mind.

As I thought about the statement on Gods glory it made me realize that Gods answer may not always bring me comfort.  But in the midst of the pain it can still bring Him glory.

It can be a lot easier to trust God when things in life seem to be going smoothly.  But what about trusting God with a circumstance you have been praying for and didn’t or haven’t received the answer you wanted?

 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Did you hear that? 

 Three Times he prayed for God to take this thorn away, for it to be healed!  But God chose not to.  Not because He didn’t love him, but because He knew Paul would/could glorify Him.  Paul still chose to trust God despite his thorn.  Through his weakness he glorified God and people witnessed this.  They were able to see God and His goodness through Paul.

I just love this because I have a problem with feeling like I have to be strong, strong for myself and strong for others.  But the thing is, in my weakest moments is when I am truly saying, “God you are the strong one, not me.”  

It is OK to be weak, disappointed and sad with a situation or a “thorn” in your life.  Our God is a big God and He can handle our deepest hurts.  

 He knows why we hurt and how it will strengthen us.  

 He knows the prayers that will be answered the way we want and He knows the prayers that will never be answered the way we would like them.  

 His plan is bigger than any plan we could ever imagine!!

He is already there at the end of your life waiting on the other side. 

 He can see the finished you and me. 

 He wants nothing more than for us to glorify Him in the happy times, disappointing times, even in the midst of our deepest hurts and our happiest moments.  

There is nothing you will face that He hasn’t already faced for you. 

 That brings me so much comfort.

He knows your thorn.  He knows why it is there and why it may always be there. 

 He is asking you to trust Him and let His face shine in and through you!

On a side note the song from Casting Crowns called “Already There” is an amazing song and is a great visualization about life. 

 Adalay loves to belt this song out in the car with Dan and I and I just love it.  Nothing like watching your two year old child raise her hand to Jesus and scream the words “Already there” in her little two year old voice…….

Rest in knowing He has walked it for you already. 

Casting Crowns

 Already There

From where I'm standing
Lord it's so hard for me to see
Where this is going
And where You're leading me
I wish I knew how
All my fears and all my questions
Are gonna play out
In a world I can't control

Oh, oh

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

Oh, oh, oh, oh

From where You're standing
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture perfect plan

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

One day I'll stand before You
And look back on the life I've lived
I can't wait to enjoy the view
And see how all the pieces fit

One day I'll stand before You
And look back on the life I've lived
Cause You're already there
You're already there
When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

You are already there

Hang on....

Mathew 11:28-29

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Do you ever have one of those weeks, maybe months, where you are just in a funk?

I do, and I hate to say it but they seem to happen more than I would like to admit!  

I have been thinking this last week on what I wanted to write about and my mind has been filled with many thoughts.  But for some reason the Holy Spirit keeps directing me to the words fear, redeemed, doubts, trust, control…..

I have always struggled with my thoughts and how I can let fear take over.  I know this is an area God has been working on in my life particularly for the last few years.  Just recently, after my daughter Elsa arrived, I have been feeling him working hard to get me to deal with some of my “issues” in this area all over again.  I don’t know about you but sometimes I am like, “Seriously Lord right now, can’t you pick a different time to have me work through this issue I am already a little overwhelmed here!”   He just never seems to want to work with my schedule. ; ).  I am so glad he can see the WHOLE picture, not just what I see in my mind.

I think my issue began when I was a little girl……

This need to make people around me happy.  Not only that but to set my own feelings and fears aside for others.  Maybe right now you are thinking, “Well Nicole that isn’t necessarily a bad thing”! I would say I agree to a certain point.   But you see for me it has been an area that has bogged me down.  

I became so focused on other people that it obstructed my view of myself.  My view of myself became distorted.  I started to believe that I had to be this happy person, that never lost control of their feelings or doubted things and if I did then there was something VERY wrong with me.  I never thought I was a person who needed approval, but it is amazing how Satan can whisper his lies right into your way of thinking and he can make you feel so miserable about yourself.

For a long time and still occasionally (ok maybe more than occasionally) I fall into this trap of thinking that now that I am a child of God and I walk with him, that I can’t screw up.  I have this “image” I need to live up to…. which is FALSE, FALSE, FALSE by the way.  But some weeks I am so beaten down by this I can barely stand it!

I just feel the weight of my fears, doubts, and failures weighing so heaving on my shoulders that I totally travel down this path of destructive thinking.  “If only I could have controlled my temper, had more patients, said something different….” or “What is wrong with you, how could you even think this way”.  It seriously can consume my thinking and I begin to think I am this horrible person and everyone else around me has it all together and they would never fall into this trap like I do.  

I have known what I am going to tell you next for a while but I am really beginning to see how powerful it can be. 
Satan knows those areas we hurt the most and he wants nothing more than for us to be tied down to them.  Let me give you an example.  For me it is my self-talk and things that haunt me from my past.  I can let it be so destructive when I am in that funk.  Satan knows and he thrives on that.  He thrives on knowing I am fearful and doubting everything I cross paths with when my mind goes there. 

If you know me at all you probably know I am a fixer and a slight control freak! 

Here lies the problem and solution.

  When I get in this funk, I begin to feel the need to fix it because I have to live up to this distorted image that I am not failing.  If it doesn’t get fixed then I let all my fears take over.  But here is the beauty in the struggle.  When I am in the midst of this struggle is when I feel God prompting me the most.  I feel him tugging at those areas I feel the need to control, those burdens that haunt me.  Each time he breaks me a little more.  He breaks me in a good way, a way that shows me that he is the ONLY one that is in control.  He whispers continually to me, “Nicole I don’t expect you to do it perfectly, I died for your sinful nature and I love you the same on your good days and bad days.”  That is a hard thing for me to grasp, he loves me the same, I don’t have to pretend I'm ok! 

  He loves us despite of our sin.   

The icky thoughts, destructive behavior, bad language, this list could go on and on couldn’t it?  He doesn’t want us to be bogged down or live in our sin.  

Hebrews 12:1-3

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart

He is calling us to let go of it.   

Don’t let it control you any longer. 

 Give it up with me. 

 It’s hard, believe me I know!!  But it doesn’t need to control you.  We serve a mighty big God that can see the mighty big picture.  Sometimes we have to make our way through some yuck to get to that mighty big picture.  He never said it was going to be easy, but he did say he would always be with us and see us through.

Isaiah 43:2

 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

I encourage you if you are someone who can let your sinful nature bog you down. 

Let go with me.

Let go of the feeling of having to be this happy person who is never hurting. Let go of the self-talk. Let go of the fears, doubts and failures.

Let go and know that you aren’t always going to do it right.  Let the Holy Spirit live in you and through you and may he be your voice of truth through it all.  

We stumble and fall, but we have a God who comes along and sweeps us into his arms and whispers, “Hang on just a little bit longer, your almost there my love your almost there”

Until the day we see him face to face, hang on……

.