A Burning Question With A Life Giving Answer
Hello, Bride of Christ,
No one question has more clearly clarified my life’s purpose and securely aligned me with God’s will than that one question. True, it took me slowing down to recognize I was asking it. Yes, a pause was required to receive its answer. Yet, it is the one question that still till today holds me steadfast in my service to the Lord.
Now it happened as they went that He (Jesus) entered a certain village…(Luke 10:38). Luke gives us insight into the home of a certain woman, Martha, whose Hebrew name means “The Lady.” The Lady welcomes Jesus into her house and becomes distracted with much serving (Luke 10:38,40). Her distraction causes her to ask the one burning question to Jesus… “Lord, do You not care, that my sister has left me to serve alone?”
Martha slowed down to ask the one question, “Lord, do You not care?”
This question caused her to compare herself to her sister Mary. It caused her to question the Lord’s heart. It caused her to desire to see Jesus justify her actions by commanding Jesus to send Mary to help her: “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” (Luke 10:40)
Bride of Christ, it is in asking this question to the Lord that you will receive clarity of purpose and alignment to His will. For Jesus graciously responded to the Lady, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42).
Jesus’ repetition of her name sets the tone of His response. He lovingly responds to her heart question, “Lord, do You not care?” and tells her there is only one thing needed. The one thing, Jesus was referring to was serving Him. He used Mary as an example since Martha had mentioned her sister…Mary had chosen to do what God prompted her to do which was anoint Jesus’ feet with oil and sit (John 12:3, Luke 10:39), contrary to the costume of the day. In other words, Jesus encouraged her to ask the question, “Lord do You not care?”, and then listen to the response to then decide how to spend her time serving Him, rather than leaning on cultural traditions of roles or prior experiences.
Let us live out this truth by asking the question and listening to the response for all aspects of our days. As followers of Christ, we desire to live in the will of God. Here are functional ways to ask the Lord what He cares about:
Pray – Spend time asking the Lord through prayer if He cares about a particular part of your day and how you are choosing to spend it. Invite the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to guide you (John 16:13).
Listen – Spend time waiting on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to respond. Be alert to the people He brings across your Path. Like Martha invite them in.
Read – Establish a consistent time to read the Word of God, the Bible, to grow in your understanding of what pleases God and His macro-plan for all mankind. Notice whether your activities align with His macro-plan. Also take stock of truth. Where is your thinking not aligned to the Word?
Obey – Change your plans, heart attitude, thought life, motive, and / or language to align with Jesus’ response. Like Mary choose the good part that cannot be taken away from you.
Repeat.
Bride of Christ let asking this burning question bring you to life giving answers. Therefore, do the needful and allow this question to continually lead you into the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
