A call to Balance - In the Busyness of Life
Hello!
These past two weeks have been a season of 'forced' rest for me😅. As I look to resuming my normal duties, I am reminded yet again of the story shared in the Gospel passage according to Luke. This story is about 2 sisters - Mary and Martha.
The Bible translation of this story that I found quite captivating, is that of The Passion Translation. See here Luke 10:38-42
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| Martha, her Truckload of Busyness, with Mary, Jesus and a Cat stealing fish from the tray (Picture from Christianity Today) |
Good but Distracting
I chose to use the image above as it depicted what our daily lives can be - a seemingly unending list of To-Dos! I often find myself in such scenarios where I would literally wish that we had more than 24 hours in a day. If you are like me that tends to forget oneself when engaged with work, then you would know what I mean by that wish.
It is good to be busy. After all, there is a saying that the idle man's mind is the devil's workshop, and so, we should be busy. There is a difference between being busy - keeping yourself occupied with work & To-dos and being EXCESSIVELY busy - keeping yourself occupied with work & To-dos, in excess.
The differentiating word here is excess. It is common sense to know that too much of anything is not good. The problem with anything done in excess is that it tips the scale of balance - where one thing suffers or is in deficit as a result of the other. Try to think of anything that is done in excess, and still remains good. If you know of any, please share in the comments section below, I'd really like to know.
Unnecessary Busyness
Busyness - the state or condition of having a great deal to do.
What would have happened if Martha had simply asked Jesus if He would like any refreshments immediately? What if she had sat a while with her guests before attempting to excuse herself to prepare refreshments? Who knows! Maybe Jesus would have offered to help her or would have asked Mary to help in His place. Did she just assume that He and His companions would be hungry? We - We and our assumptions. lol!😅 What if Jesus and His Companions were not hungry at that moment, or had scheduled dinner with a friend that probably may have been expecting them? 😏
At times, we create our own busyness with all sorts of unnecessary tasks that arise from a place of anxiety & worry or simply from a place of assumptions. Martha must have been overly anxious about receiving Jesus into her home. She probably wanted to make a good impression of being an excellent host or was just worried that they might be exhausted from their travel.
Often times, working with just assumptions can be counter-productive. One thing I have learned this season is to do what I can do, within a realistic timeframe and not assume on behalf of anyone that something needs to be done, NOW. Ask questions to gain clarity or to suggest realistic timelines, where possible. The sense of urgency in our lives when dealing with our To-dos can be very demanding and crippling especially in the area of our mental health. Martha assumed that the meal must be prepared 'NOW' and so the pro-active nature in her kicked in but the realistic part of her had other plans - Babygirl, You are not supergirl biko! Look at the picture shared earlier above, and try to imagine how Martha must have felt. Just looking at that pile of foodstuffs that need attention makes me think of the saying; "No be only me waka come"😂.
The Right Approach to Work, especially when it becomes Overwhelming
In this story, Jesus does not condemn the act of work nor the need to get things done. No, not at all! Rather, He reminds Martha that there is a need for a balance. I imagine Him looking at her with so much pity as she walked towards them. She probably must have been at her wits' end, seeing Mary looking all chilled with Jesus while she was trying to peel the potatoes, light up the stove, chop up the vegetables, chase the cat away from nibbling on the fish that needed to have their scales removed and washed, amongst others. Yup, I'd probably scream directly at Mary to come to the kitchen without showing my face to Jesus at all.😅
Although our hardworking Martha was clearly upset, she still provides a lesson for us when we too are upset with things/work that seem out of our control, and that is - to approach our Lord First! She approached the Lord, first. She doesn't take things into her own hands and address Mary directly, rather she speaks to the Lord first about the perceived nonchalant attitude of Mary.
When we are consumed with the busyness of life, what is our first approach? Do we complain to our Friends? Do we go head-on into dialogue with the overdemanding superior at the workplace? Do we feel fed up and then draft up a resignation letter? Do we shut out everyone and try to figure a way out of the sense of tiredness? The list can go on.
The Need for Balance
As recorded in verses 41-42 of the Bible passage, our Lord Jesus was not against Mary helping Martha. Rather, He was asking Martha to learn how to prioritise and plan her work in order to achieve balance in the midst of a seemingly chaotic life. Jesus also said that Mary had chosen the better part, which is being with Him. Again, Jesus is not condemning hard work. He said Better, which has to mean that work itself is Good.
The truth is that Martha failed to see that being in the presence of God was more important than food for the belly. Spiritual strength is more important than physical strength but this not in any way downplay nor remove the necessity of physical strength (Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and every other thing will be added to you Matthew 6:33).
In our daily lives, do we sit with God to listen and learn from the Creator of life on how to do life?
As an individual, I attempt to finish work or tasks as quickly as possible. I do this in order to get a sense of freedom per se, in order to relax and tend to other aspects of my life but you see, work never finishes. In my bid to want to finish, I tend to create and agree to unrealistic deadlines, put myself under pressure, get anxious when I am falling behind the unrealistic deadlines and then get extremely upset when I don't meet them, and all these lead to a big world of unhealthiness. I will often get so tired that to spend quality time with the Creator and owner of my life would appear too burdensome. Consumed by this 'need to finish work', I tend to ignore my meals, ignore family and friends, and also inevitably ignore myself. My sense of wanting to do work excellently well makes this much worse. Corrections from a review can be done afterwards, but I will want to do them NOW so that I can finish the work. 😓
Do Life with God, Always!
Jesus doesn't promise to take away the workload. He is not going to make those lines of code appear out of thin air!😆 However, He invites us to come to learn how to balance this workload so it doesn't crush us. He promises to help us. He may not appear physically but He is more than able to send help to us through others.
Outside of Him, we can do nothing worthwhile (John 15:5). Anything we do outside of Him comes with a sense of a fleeting sense of fulfilment (if any) and also comes at a cost that usually affects our very core - our wellbeing.
Do not try to keep up appearances. At times, we put pressure on ourselves as we try to maintain a certain image in front of our employers, peers, friends and frenemies and this can be exhausting. You want to be seen as one who is hardworking and so you ignore other aspects of life that are important in the hopes of getting a sort of approval - that may not even be given. 😂When we do life with God, we do not forget who we are. We do not seek approval from human beings. For it is God alone who favours us both in His Sight and in the sight of man. This is evident in the Scriptures as in the case of Joseph (Genesis 39:3-5). The book of Proverbs also supports this truth as seen in Proverbs 3:1-4.
Do life with the Creator of Life or risk having the troubles of life get the best of you. God in His Wisdom is more than able to direct us in everything we do. Don't think that anything is too small or not important to bring to His attention. For a God who seeks to dwell within us, you can be certain that He is very interested in every detail of our lives - yup, down to the meals you want to cook or that game you want to play or where you plan to park your car.
He wants to be a companion. The true Life Companion. The one who desires to be with us both in this life and in the afterlife.
Think about it, if you say you can do all by yourself and have no need for God, or that this work is too important to make time out for communion with God or to even rest, what can you do if God demands a return of His breath of Life within you? You do realise that we are all on borrowed breaths. What can you do when Nature forces your body to demand rest - in the most uncomfortable way such as an illness/mental fatigue? Can you really do anything? 😔 No. You can't.
To do life better, do Life with God.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, reign in our hearts and may the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in perfect peace, Amen.
Note:
Today the 7th of June 2020, is the Solemnity of The Holy Trinity! We celebrate the nature of God that is One God in Three Persons - The Perfection of Unity, Equality & Love. I pray that we receive the grace needed to live in unity, equality and love with one and another in this world filled with so much division and hatred, through Christ our Lord, Amen!
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