Eliminating Distractions and Sitting At His Feet

It has been four and half weeks since the birth of my second child. This time around I have been much more relaxed and have made sure to enjoy the time with our new little one rather than stressing about trying to do and keep everything perfect as I did with my first.

The time to go back to work is drawing very near and as I allow myself to think about it, my emotions start to bubble up. This time around is actually going to be more tough than the first. Harder perhaps because this will likely be my last little one and I think about the precious moments that will be lost. Harder because my passion and excitement for both work and community involvement have suffered substantially over the past few months and the thought of re-engaging is not appealing.

It is hard for me to admit that I've lost my excitement for work, because I work with some great and inspiring individuals and leaders. In fact, I had purposely decided not to write a post on this struggle and instead messaged a few close friends earlier today and asked them to pray with me about a renewed passion and personal vision for my work.  God had other plans though, because as I sat down to read an article tonight, my eyes were opened as to the real issue I needed to face and the need to share this with others as I'm sure some of you can relate.

The article I came across was about women balancing responsibilities and how Jesus shared with us the one item essential to finding balance- spending time at His feet. In the New Testament, we learn about two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha was busy preparing for Jesus and the disciples and trying to make everything perfect (sound a little familiar). Mary, on the other hand, took every opportunity to enjoy the visit with Jesus and to listen to his teachings. When Martha complained to Jesus about Mary not helping her with the meal preparations, Jesus shared with Martha that what she did was appreciated, but what Mary did had eternal value.

This depiction of Martha is all too familiar to me. Martha allowed herself to be completely distracted from spending time with Jesus. Jesus was right there before her and she didn't take the time to sit at His feet and listen to the Master.  How often I allow myself to be distracted with the tasks that I need to get done that I don't take the time to sit with the Master to learn if those are even the tasks I need to be focused on.

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking that I needed to sit down and develop a life plan and determine where I can best utilize my gifts, when what I really need to do is get quiet and get before the One who has my life plan already written. I need to keep myself from being so busy and distracted with "doing" that I miss out on receiving the direction, wisdom and encouragement that He has waiting for me daily.

In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart]. ~ Psalm 5:3