{"id":1157,"date":"2019-01-19T22:51:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T22:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplymeandjeans.wordpress.com\/?p=1157"},"modified":"2025-02-28T20:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:25:02","slug":"one-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/?p=1157","title":{"rendered":"The Necessary “One Thing”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, \u201cLord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.\u201d\u00a0But the Lord answered her,\u00a0\u201cMartha, Martha, you are\u00a0anxious and troubled about many things,\u00a0<\/sup>but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen\u00a0the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>Luke 10:38-42 (ESV)<\/p>\n

I am such a Martha.<\/p>\n

Seriously! Can anyone else relate? \u00a0I\u2019ve heard messages about this passage my entire life and often wanted to raise my hand and say, \u201cHey\u2026someone had to do all that stuff!\u201d I mean, as soon as a guest arrived, the host washed their feet, proceeded to cook a meal, make sure there were others there to share the meal and prepared a safe and comfortable place for them to sleep. Poor Martha. She didn\u2019t have the option of running to Chic Fila for a platter of nuggets.\u00a0 More than likely, she\u2019d have to kill an animal, make bread from scratch, haul more water from the well and bring up wine from the cellar. On top of all that, the women and servants were expected to do the work while the men would visit with the guest.<\/p>\n

I can totally feel Martha\u2019s frustration. Especially when I consider the fact that Mary was stretching the boundaries of their culture by seating in with the men. Martha may have been thinking, \u201cJesus, she\u2019s a woman and she\u2019s suppose to be helping me. This isn\u2019t at all appropriate.\u201d I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s what she was thinking, but it would be understandable in their culture.<\/p>\n

Who am I kidding? I can\u2019t blame it on culture. I act the same way on a regular basis when my family watches Netflix while I cook dinner, clean the kitchen, fold the clothes and feed the animals. I\u2019m sure they would help if I asked but I just want someone to notice\u00a0<\/strong>what I\u2019m doing and help me.\u00a0 It\u2019s embarrassing how quickly the desire for acknowledgement and help can turn love and service into bitterness and anxiety.\u00a0 Yep. In that way, I am exactly like Martha.<\/p>\n

(Sigh)<\/p>\n

The sad truth is that Martha, like me, allowed anxiety to grab her heart as she was doing something good. She was serving Jesus! Whether anyone recognized her work or not, her service could have been a form of worship if her attitude had been right. But, she lost focus of who she was serving and started focusing on what she had to do and what everyone else was not\u00a0<\/strong>doing. Her \u201cto do list\u201d made her anxious and troubled about so many things and it became a weight that pulled her soul down into bitterness.<\/p>\n

I feel like I\u2019ve been carrying that weight around for a few weeks.\u00a0 I\u2019ve become aware of how quickly my list of responsibilities can turn into self-pity and anger but have been praying that I\u2019ll be quick to speak up, ask for help and, in doing that, cut the weed of bitterness off at the roots. I\u2019ve also noticed that the cares of this life have stirred up stress in my heart.\u00a0 Our family and friends have a lot going on right now. Hardly an hour passes that I\u2019m not reminded of something that I need to surrender or pray about. For the most part, I feel like I\u2019m handling it all pretty well\u2026until I\u2019m not. Until all of it piles up at once and I notice that I\u2019m anxious and troubled and running to Jesus saying, \u201cWhy won\u2019t you change some of this and help me?\u201d<\/p>\n

But, not all cares and concerns are bad. Lately, some of my anxiety comes from my desire to hear God clearly. I realize that may sound counterintuitive but, I desperately want to know what God is calling me to. To see what He wants me to write about. To feel like I\u2019m getting some traction in this new stage of life.\u00a0 To have the focus I need to consolidate all he\u2019s taught me this past year into words of truth and encouragement that I can remember and share.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been reading and rereading journals. Writing and rewriting verses. Listening to everything I can get my hands on and pleading for direction. Although I\u2019m more desperate to be close to Jesus than I\u2019ve ever been, that desperation has been hijacked by worry and anxiety over whether I\u2019ll get it all right. Ironically, the desire for good things has warped into another source of worry that has snowballed, along with my responsibilities and concerns, until I realized that I was full of anxiety.<\/p>\n

Like\u2026to the rim full.\u00a0Pressed down and overflowing, but not in a good \u201cLuke 6:38″ way.<\/p>\n

I knew I should turn to Jesus and lay it all down but suddenly realized how hard it is to stop a huge snowball that\u2019s already started an avalanche. An avalanche that felt like it was burying me beneath so much anxiety that I couldn\u2019t breath. If I hadn\u2019t been driving when it hit, I would have gone for a long hard run or pounded the punching bag for a while but the best I could do in the car was cry and pray.\u00a0 A lot. Then Jesus simply said, \u201cKaren, you are anxious and troubled about many things,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>but only one thing is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one thing is necessary. The good portion.\u00a0 That thing that can\u2019t be taken away from me.<\/p>\n

Him.<\/p>\n

He is the one thing. Being with him and listening to his voice.\u00a0 Sometimes to the silence. Not trying to force or grasp something but simply resting in his presence. Trusting him to carry me, to care for me and to faithfully lead me where I need to go.<\/p>\n

All those responsibilities, worries, concerns, hopes, desires and dreams will be there when it\u2019s time to deal with them but they won\u2019t last forever.\u00a0 What will last forever, and what will help me cope with all the rest, \u00a0is my relationship with Jesus.\u00a0 My Jesus, the teacher that allowed Mary, a woman, to sit and learn from him.\u00a0 My Jesus who wants me to learn from him. To know him. To have purpose in life. \u00a0 My Jesus who created me to do good works. \u00a0My Jesus who wants me to sit at his feet and learn how he loves and what he holds as valuable.\u00a0 My Jesus that chose me before the world was created KNOWING the failures I would have and the ways I would dishonor him but who chose me anyway and who loves me more than I can imagine.<\/p>\n

My Jesus.<\/p>\n

My one thing.<\/p>\n

The good portion.<\/p>\n

That can\u2019t be taken away.<\/p>\n

What a relief to let it all go and breath in my Jesus. I can hardly fathom that he loves me so much that he wants to be with me, much less that he wants to carry my burdens. He wants to\u00a0help me \u00a0navigate life without an anxious and troubled heart but with peace and joy.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I want this year. More of Him! \u00a0To have such a close relationship with Jesus that he goes with me into every situation because I\u2019m saturated with his Spirit.\u00a0 That I become less and He becomes more.\u00a0 That people see him and want to find this one thing too.\u00a0 All because my life no longer consists of worry, anxiety, stress and striving but of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.<\/p>\n

All from this one thing.\u00a0The one thing that matters over and above everything else and gives it all purpose. The one thing that changes me and sustains me. \u00a0The one thing that will last for eternity.<\/p>\n

The best thing. My Jesus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version\u00ae (ESV\u00ae)
\n\u00a9 2001 by Crossway,
\na publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
\nAll rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.\u00a0\u00a0But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, \u201cLord, do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,6],"tags":[25,305,312,348,349,406,420,444,446,457,466,548,593,636],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-family","category-reflections","tag-anxiety","tag-jesus","tag-joy","tag-martha","tag-mary","tag-overwhelmed","tag-peace","tag-purpose","tag-quiet","tag-relationship","tag-rest","tag-stress","tag-troubled","tag-worry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}