Luke 10:38-42

Poor Martha, one might be tempted to think. Mary is just sitting there, soaking in Jesus’ words and letting Him feed her mind and heal her soul, while Martha is clearing out the dust bunnies (in my case, dog hair) from under the table and making sure the meal is just so.

I would like to think I take the time for devotions and study and prayer, but I am more often than not on a tight schedule. I have to be somewhere. I have to call someone, chase after a dog, or get something else done, and then I realize I have not intentionally sought Jesus in prayer or study.

Oh, the peace we often forfeit (if I may paraphrase the song What a Friend We Have in Jesus, LSB 770 ) when we forget our King Jesus is also our True Friend and most stalwart Advocate.

Right now I am sitting in a hospital room, waiting for my husband, my dearest friend on this earth, to be brought back after having biopsies performed on suspicious areas shown on scans after his surgery to remove colon cancer. There have been constant to-dos and constant concerns for his care and for his health. But sometimes I have to tell my inner Martha to take a chill. Be like Mary for a moment, choose the better part, and sit at the Master’s feet and let Him restore my soul.

Of course taking a chill is not at all my nature- the ethos in my family- most people of northern European heritage know it well- is to shut up and stay busy. Have the stoicism of that old German Oma who gets things done efficiently, in good order, and doesn’t shed a tear. Heed the tyranny of the urgent, to a point.

Alles ist nicht in Ordnung.

There is no good order in this fallen world.

Nobody lives forever. Nothing, at not until our Savior and Lord returns again will ever be in Ordnung. Right now we share in the sufferings of Christ. We get dirty, frustrated, sick and tired. We are constantly vexed by the world, Satan, our own flesh and our constant sin.

We have to hold on to the promise Jesus has won for us. He will restore not only our souls but our bodies as well. Eternal life for Christian believers is already in progress.

The 23rd Psalm is well loved because it reminds us Whose we are. Everything can be coming apart all around us. We can be distracted, scattered, dirty, distressed and a whole heaping pile of ornery and sinful-but- He leads us to green pastures and still water. He constantly restores our souls.

Today I pray to take heed of Jesus’ lesson in Matthew 6:25-34.

Listen to Him. Sit at His feet and let Him restore our souls.