God Breathed

Is it just me, or does the word “busy” define life right now? It seems like everyone (including me) is so… well, busy. So, let’s take a moment, slow things down a bit, and evaluate what is really going on here.

It seems as though a lot of us are all caught-up in the same sort of activities. From work, to school, homework, household chores, caring for the family, grocery shopping, car check-ups, soccer practice, trips to the mall, not to mention ministry opportunities and church activities, phew… we are a busy people. But, the question I would like for us to look at is whether we are all busy with the right sort of activities?

Well, if you can relate at all to the “laundry-list” (no pun intended) of responsibilities above, then take heart. I recently read something that encouraged me & I pray that it might be of encouragement to you as well. In her book, Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone, Elyse Fitzpatrick uses the biblical illustration of two sisters, Martha & Mary, to address the question that we have posed above. She looks at the issues of the heart that may underly our compulsion for busy-ness and help us clear-out some time in our schedules for the right sort of activities (p. 32-33):

“As the Lord lovingly looked into His distraught servant’s face, He said, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her’ (Luke 10:41-42).

I don’t think I’ve ever met a Christian woman for whom Christ’s words weren’t piercingly convicting. It seems that serving in material ways is for some reason easier and more rewarding than sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to Him. Why is that? Does this inclination indicate a problem with our worship? Our love? And what is that ‘good part’ that Mary had chosen and Martha and many of us miss?

Have you ever met anyone who was too devoted to the Lord, who was too focused on loving Him? I haven’t. In fact, I don’t think it is possible. As Richard Baxter says, ‘Infinite goodness cannot possibly be loved too much.’ I’m not talking about being devoted in some mystical way that precludes responsible living. I’m talking about the difficulty when we try to focus our daily lives, moment by moment, on loving, worshiping, and serving the Lord–on sitting at His feet…

Even in my Christian ministry responsibilities, it’s possible for me to worship gods of my own making… gods of my reputation, my plans for the day, my ideas. Its easy to get so frustrated and caught up in serving the Lord that I forget to love and worship Him. It’s during those times that I begin to think, like Martha, that God doesn’t care about me. The truth about His love and sacrificial care is clouded by my plans and desires. [I can totally relate to this ]

Martha’s problem isn’t unique… Why is it so easy for us to get weighted down and entrapped? It’s because, as John Calvin said, our hearts manufacture other gods…

Exodus 20:3 says, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ In this simple statement the Lord God, Creator of the heavens an earth, directs our entire focus and destiny. our response to these eight short words, so seemingly inconsequential, influence every facet of our lives, now and eternally. Is the one needful thing that Mary found and Martha missed encapsulated in this terse command? Did Martha have another god before Jehovah?” (p. 32-33)

I submit these same questions to us all: in our busy-ness, is it possible that we are striving to serve a god other than the true & living God? I must confess that I am well aware of the fact that, at times, like Elyse, I too can get so caught-up in trying to impress others or even myself (i.e. my schedule, my plans, my pride) that I also loose sight of who I really ought to be serving. But, with this realization comes GREAT hope!!!

God promises that, for those who confess their sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us of our sins. Not only that, but He also promises to cleanse us from our sins too (1 John 1:9). So, whenever I find myself getting caught-up in the busy-ness of life, it is helpful for me to re-evaluate my schedule (item by item, if necessary) to determine which activities I am scheduling out of a heart of love & service to God. For those activities, which I am scheduling for other reasons (i.e. wanting to please others, seeking the approval of others, seeking opportunities to boast in my accomplishments, seeking control over my schedule & others, etc), I need to confess them before the Lord. Then, I need to ask for His forgiveness for serving gods of my own making instead of serving Him. Lastly, I need to prayerfully & humbly consider removing those activities from my schedule, which do not bring glory & honor to Him.

I would strongly encourage anyone else, who may be caught-up in the “Martha Syndrome”, to do the same! There is so much blessing that can come from deliberately choosing to only pursue activities that bring glory & honor to God. Also, it will free-up otherwise wasted time for you to devote to other things… like “sitting at the Lord’s feet.”

As part of my reading plan, I have been reading through 1 & 2 Samuel each morning. It largely covers the life of David and I have found it so encouraging! I have just been so impressed by David’s humility, amazing character and utter devotion to God.

One passage really struck me as I read through it:

“1And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

 ” 9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. 12And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.“-2 Samuel 9:1-13

There is so much here. I wish I could take the time to go through this passage vers-by-verse with you, but time does not permit me to do so. Therefore, I will try to stick with my main point: David’s amazing heart for God.

This is most evident when we consider the history between David & Saul, which serves as a backdrop to this passage. Remember, Saul was the first king of Israel. Although, he was chosen & annointed by God, he sinned against God during his reign. So, while he was still on the throne, God chose the next man in line for the kingship, David. However, David, acknowledging God’s annointing on Saul, did not usurp his God-given right to the throne. Rather, he waited for God’s appointed time to begin his rule & authority over Israel (that time came after Saul’s death) and served Saul instead. All the while, Saul grew increasingly bitter & jealous toward David. Saul attempted several times to kill David and, later in life, Saul’s hatred grew to the point that it became his primary ambition to hunt-down David to kill him. Saul eventually failed and died in battle. But the fact that David could see past Saul’s personal vendeta against him and still seek to honor him as God’s annointed, shows just how much David loved, admired and revered His God above Himself.

Secondly, David lives-out the type of “kindness” that our Heavenly Father shows toward us, His children. He says, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” (v. 3) He sets out to display God’s kindness to God’s annointed (Saul, who also happened to be his enemy) and succeeds in providing us with a beautiful display of God’s kindness toward His “annointed” (chosen people) through His redemptive plan of salvation:

1) Summons us to Himself (v. 5)

2) Humble us (v. 6-8)

3) Promises unmerited blessing and favor upon us (v. 6-10)

4) Faithfully fulfills His promise (v. 13)

Truly, David is a man after God’s own heart! May God grant me the grace to show His kindness in such a way as to reflect His character so beautifully to others.

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”-Luke 9:23  

“When you are hurt or neglected and you sting and feel the pain of insults and oversight, but your heart is happy and content and you feel it is a priviledge to suffer for the Christ, that is dying to self; when your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions are ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence, that’s dying to self; when you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance, when you can stand face-to-face with waste and folly and extravagance and spiritual insensitivity to you and endure it, that’s dying to self; when you’re content with any food, any offering, any clothes, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption into your life by the will of God, that’s dying to self; when you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or report your own good works, or seek commendation, and actually love to be unknown, that’s dying to self; when you see your brother prosper and have his needs met and you can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy or question God while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances, that’s dying to self; when you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, while finding no rebellion or resentment rising in your heart, that’s dying to self. How are you doing? Are you dead yet?”-John MacArthur, Truth & Life Conference 2003, Main Session, “Proclaiming the Lordship of Christ“