Early on in my Christian walk I was in a Women's Bible Study group in which we talked about Mary and Martha. We all strongly identified with one of the women in the story.
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
40But 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, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
At that time in my life, I felt very much like Mary. I ate, slept and breathed the Bible. I took all my breaks and lunches in the conference room where I could read the Bible without being interrupted. (Which is more meaningful when you know that I have always been a person who works through her breaks and most of her lunches) I would stay up and read the Bible after the rest of my family had gone to sleep, sometimes until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. I read the whole Bible in three months. I would pray and worship during my two 45 minutes commutes everyday. I felt God's presence often during that time.
I couldn't imagine how Martha could be so worried about day-to-day life when Jesus was in her house. My shock of how Martha was acting was helped by the fact that I have never been a good housekeeper or hostess and tend to prefer spending my time thinking than doing.
And yet...I have found recently just how much I seem to be acting like Martha at that time in her life. I seem to be worried and upset about many things that "have to be taken care of". Running from one thing to the next and wondering how I will get it all done. How could I go from being a "Mary" to being a "Martha?
We all have different phases in our walk with God. We all have periods where we are not as faithful as we have been. We all change sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad and hopefully we make it back to the good. Only God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Even Mary and Martha change. Between events that were written about in Luke and events described in John. When Lazarus had died Mary and Martha were at completely different phases than they when Jesus was speaking in Mary's house.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
When Jesus came after Lazarus' death, it was Martha who chose to come to him and had the faith that he could ask and God would raise Lazarus from the dead. Mary stayed home until Jesus called for her.
So, I've realized that, it's not just me who goes through phases. There are many other people in the Bible who change in their walk with God. Actually there are quite a few of them whose faithfullness wanes as time passes. I also know several people personally that have gone through phases.
The woman who brought me to Christ was at one of these low points in her walk with God when I met her, luckily her walk with God was restored and since then she has been used in mighty ways for God's glory. The closest to my heart is that she started praying for my salvation and she stayed friends with me even though I was on a much different path than her. When I was ready and she felt the call of the Holy Spirit she introduced me to Christ.
So the more important question is not am I more like Mary or Martha? But, since I am like both of them, how do I get back to experiencing the world as a child of God living for His glory and not just as a busy person who happens to know that her eternity is secured?
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