Day 54 – Issue 21

Be Still Know

Luke 10:41 NLT

But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!”

Life today is exceptionally busy. Demands are increasing on us all. Some take this in their stride, others find it exhausting. I have never enjoyed stress. I seldom perform well under pressure and prefer an ordered, gentle approach.

To make sense of life we each need some form of plan. I find that ordering my day makes best use of time, while I recognise I also have to remain flexible due to unexpected interruptions. So Mum may drop something and I know I need to go at once and support her clearing up. But it’s amazing how often my first instinct is to blame her rather than accept accidents happen, especially once you have reached 92.

Martha here is frustrated with Mary’s approach; quietly sitting listening to the Master teach. Lunch was required and life doesn’t just stop. But I have found that there are times when it is essential to stop and pay attention to God, however apparently inconvenient. It wasn’t as if Jesus popped by daily offering Mary a good excuse to down tools and take a break. This was a special occasion, one that Mary recognised offered her an opportunity she might never have again.

Most of our lives are taken up with the ordinary, but each of us can establish a rhythm that creates space for the extraordinary. Doing this also reveals our commitment to meet the extraordinary in our everyday. So what are the essential components of your day? What demands must be met and what demands do you have some control over? If we are to pursue God effectively, then it is wise to take as much control over our day as we can.

QUESTION: Are you in control of your life, or is life driving you?

PRAYER: Lord, in the busyness of life, help me keep the important things in life in clear focus.