I have always been a busy person, filling my days with
seemingly needful activities and checking things off a “to do” list. Being actively productive brings me joy. But, I also like to spend time alone being
quiet and still. I gain strength from
being alone thinking, pondering, re-focusing, organizing my thoughts, writing
things down, reading, studying, praying.
Productive, nonetheless, yet different.
In recent years, I’ve had to learn a greater depth in being
alone, when quiet seems more like an enemy than a friend. And, in the quiet solitude, my activity has
grown to enlarging room in my heart for God to be with me. He’s always present, but the space I create
for him grows, so my relationship with God grows. I’m still learning, of course. It’s been difficult, but I’m grateful for the
fruit of this process in my life. I know
myself better, I know God better, and I know my purpose better. I’m learning that God values me over what I
do and the room I create for him in my heart is never large enough.
Consider a pond. When
looking into the water and things are calm, you can see clear down to the
bottom. You’ll see rocks and pebbles, a
little fish or a frog may scurry by.
Moss lazily sways in the current and you may even see an old can or
shoe. But the calm surface can be
disturbed quite quickly when a rock is thrown in, a dog bounces along, or a
group of kids join in some fun. The
surface of the water changes drastically with the movement and the clear view
is obscured and cloudy.
In writing about the practices of St. Francis in The Lessons of St. Francis, the author,
John Michael Talbot, compares our lives to a pond. When things are calm, we can see clearly and
detect the slightest movement. Pleasant
things may be in clear view, but as well, discouraging wreckage may
appear. When things are unsettled,
everything seems murky. It’s hard to
detect the lovely or the ugly. Yet, even
a clouded pond doesn’t quite depict what we may feel on most days. Talbot writes, “For most of us, life is more
like a kitchen blender, its engine humming, its blades purring, and its motion
making a puree of the elements of our fast-paced, turbulent lives.” Can you relate? Comparing my life to a quiet scene near a
pond seems like a fantasy at times.
Sadly, the blender is more realistic.
Because our goal in life is to draw near to God, to know him
better, and to hear his voice, quiet, stillness, even solitude have their
purposes in a disciple’s life. Of
course, Jesus is our example as He stole away to find places to be alone with
the Father to pray. And, the example of
Mary and Martha in the familiar story in Luke 10:38-42 teaches us about
spending time doing the needful thing, sitting with Jesus, and hearing his
words.
We have to be careful because the enemy of our soul uses the
world’s noise to clutter our lives with the unnecessary and keep us from what
is truly needed. Our hearts and minds
can be so noisy, even with good things.
We can be preoccupied with the superficial at the expense of what is
truly meaningful.
Using Mary’s and Martha’s examples, consider the following:
Our desire should be
to spend time and listen to the guidance of Jesus. Mary sat to hear the words of Jesus. Before her was a treasure, she embraced him,
not knowing there would be another moment the same. She was all in.
As Jesus was willing to walk into the house to immediately speak
and teach, she was immediately present to hear.
She paid close attention, to catch every word, to receive all Jesus
would give. Her mind was resolved to
listen. If we are willing to spend time
at Jesus’ feet to hear his word, we show him we are ready to receive it, and
the word becomes our treasure and joy.
Being still before Jesus is a necessary part of a disciple’s life.
Martha’s actions were commendable for her respect in
providing a well-planned meal for her Lord, yet while attending to all the
details for Jesus she was distracted with the service she was so willing to
provide.
Our service to the
Lord can distract us from what is truly needed. Her service was good and needed, but being
encumbered by the duties was sin. Martha
could have arranged for a simple meal and concentrated on what was most
important, sitting with Jesus. But, her
duties overwhelmed her.
Jesus reproved Martha and exposed her unnecessary busy-ness
for being careful and troubled about many things. The many things she was troubled about were
needless, while the one thing she neglected was needful. Distractions are an enemy to growing
disciples, if we are weighted down with them.
Mary’s example reveals the quiet, roomy heart, of a disciple at peace in
the Lord’s presence. For Mary, the needful becomes the better choice. Martha’s service to the Lord, in the
proper time and place, was good, but something awaited her that was unspeakably
more needful. Other things have their
place, but they also have their time.
Our world divides our hearts. Distractions become necessities and we find
ourselves far from God’s intended purposes.
We must practice separating the needless from the needful. When we do, we make room for the Lord in our
everyday activities. Jesus becomes the
greater choice among the myriad of choices available to us each day, even in
our busy-ness.
At the end of our lives, what will be most important to
us? I’ve had the privilege of observing
the priorities of two special people in my life at the end of their lives. Suffering from terrible diseases, they knew
their days were few. What were their
highest priorities? Conversations with
family, words of encouragement to those they’d leave behind, and hearing the
Word of God. Their hearts laid bare
would not be satisfied with anything of this world. Embracing true riches, their closing
proclamations were witnessed by those who loved them most on this earth. God’s Words, His comfort, His peace were all
they needed, until the end came. What
awaited them in heaven? Exactly what
they enjoyed in their last moments on this earth, sitting at the feet of Jesus
with emptied hearts for Him to fill with treasures we can’t even fathom. The needful serves them well now.
Like Mary, our hearts should leap to choose the needful, the
better thing, the better business, the better happiness, the better way of
honoring Jesus, the better way to please him.
The needful is always better, and all it took was a decision and a quiet
soul.
“The soul that is growing in holiness is the least lonely
when it is most alone.” Father Andrew
Enlarging the stillness of our heart for Jesus to fill just
doesn’t happen on its own. Growth takes
intentionality. Cultivating quiet,
stillness, solitude into our schedule gives reasonable conditions for the
garden of our hearts to expand. Our
desires, our service, our choices become better because we’ve made room for the
Lord to lead us, teach us, love us.
It was common in Jesus’ culture for a rabbi to attract
students. They didn’t necessarily teach
in a classroom setting. Most were
instructors who walked about while disciples followed them through the normal
activities of their daily lives. Jesus
did this. He traveled from place to
place teaching and attracting people.
Luke 6:1 – “One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and
his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and
eat the kernels.”
Picture this . . . a beautiful, warm, sunny day with a
slight breeze blowing across the grain fields.
Jesus is leading the way, carving a footpath among the stalks, talking,
chatting about the day, teaching truth, allowing his fingers to brush against
the tall grain, stopping only briefly to pluck the heads of the grain. His friends followed behind him, doing as he
did, listening, observing, imitating, enjoying his tutoring, and simply happy
to be in his presence. What a day,
spending it with Jesus!
I want to be this kind of disciple. Following Jesus throughout my day, learning
from him, listening to his teaching, doing as he did. Being so close to him that I’m watching his
every move, listening to his still small voice, resting at his feet, making
room for him in the vast space of my cluttered heart, not losing sight of my
purpose in him, even with the distractions around me. Savoring every moment with my Savior,
expanding the arena of my heart just for him.
I want to be this kind of disciple.
