Martha and Mary

Many Christians talk about ‘dry seasons’. Times in which we feel very little ‘zing’ in our Christian life, times when it can feel like God is distant. I have heard that Mother Teresa wrote to her close friend in Rome and in her letters she expressed that she hadn’t heard the voice of her Lord for years.

When these ‘dry’ times come upon us I believe the easiest solution is to just get busy being a Christian. In James it says ‘Faith without action is dead’, so if you are having problems in your relationship with God, why shouldn’t you get busy serving Him ? I believe the answer is in Matthew 7:21-23;

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ .

Our first priority is to KNOW GOD. We must be able to ‘Be still and know that He is God’. We must build our relationship with Him, spending time in prayer, reading our bible and worship. That is how we will know what the will of the Father IS so we can do it.

AND then we serve. Without a strong, intimate relationship with God, our church activities and ministry work are pointless. I believe Mother Teresa hadn’t heard from God for so long because she didn’t need to. She knew Him so well that she could walk her Christian life with very little direction from Him.

A friend of mine once said that often God ‘shouts’ at a new Christian, He is very real and frequently directs their path. That is because they need that direction. As we mature as Christians, God’s voice gets quieter and quieter. He shouldn’t need to be so obvious for us. We have a strong faith, we have a good understanding of Him. We have the bible to direct us. We are walking in his ways.

Kind of like a boss with a new employee, at first they will direct and teach everything to their new employee. But as the person starts to get it and the boss can trust them to do their job, the boss will have less and less input.

Wherever you are in you walk with Christ my prayer for you today is this,

Lord, that You would check our hearts. Let us know if You know us not. Help us to prioritise You in everything we do. Help us not to offer up lip service and run around doing what we think You want but help us to KNOW You. Speak to us Lord, reassure us Lord, direct us Lord.

If we are on the right path with the Lord his assurance is that we will have the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)

If any one of these is lost, even though you may be rising in the ranks of your church, even though your soup kitchen may be feeding thousands every night, no matter what your circumstances, stop and pray.

There may be a whole host of reasons why your peace has gone but there is only one answer, ask He who supplies it how you can get it back.

 

Luke 10:38-42  (NIV)

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But 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, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

 

A Life Less Ordinary

According to most sources the earths population has followed the following trend :

1804 = 1 billion people

1927 = 2billion people

1960 = 3 billion people

1974 = 4 billion people

1987 = 5 billion people

1999 = 6 billion people

2011 = 7 billion people

When JFK was the President of America there were less than half the number of people on the planet than there are now! The period of time it takes to add a billion people to the world population has gone from 31 years to 12. Every year there are about 90 million more people on the planet than the year before. Could it be that we are successfully fulfilling God’s order to “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.”? (Genesis 1:28)

On a recent trip to Bangkok I was very uncomfortable riding the train and seeing high rise after high rise after high rise after high rise. When studying waste management with my students I learnt about the scary statistics involved with waste production and disposal. When I look at global warming, deforestation and the fact that only 2.5% of the water on the planet is fresh, I start to wonder how sustainable our way of living is.

Matthew Simmons, energy Advisor to George W Bush said that ‘Maybe I’m hallucinating but I actually think that there is an optimistic life after crude oil if everyone quickly understands how unbelievably serious this is and starts behaving in some radically different manners.”

The crude oil crisis is basically the reverse of a surplus of supply and demand. Since the first discoveries of crude oil we have found more oil than we use but that trend is changing. What will happen when the price of petrol becomes $50 or $100 a liter?

When I consider all these things taken together, two quotes come to mind :

Albert Einstein “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

If our education system and our expectations as parents are focused towards kids getting good grades, finding a good job, getting married and having a savings account, then I see little hope for the planet 100 years from now. As educators and as a society we have to throw out the old curriculum and inspire in our children the kind of thinking and living that will lead to a sustainable future.

Sir Winston Churchill “It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”

I know we are not capable of doing it, but if we are brave enough to release our hold on what is normal and comfortable and secure and step off into the void we will find that God has a path prepared for us. If we value human life over the economy we will break through into a new bright future of love and hope. The choice is yours, choose to live a life less ordinary.

God Bless You, Gef