Sunflower Faith

My previous post, I wrote about planning….planning for school…organizing the home, making time and (hahahahaha) my belated “Word Filled Wednesday” post reminded me so much of how we keep ourselves slaves to things that can keep us distracted and even distracted from the freedom that our Father has given us.

Time.

Blogging.

Obligation.

Social Media.

These are things that was shared in this month’s issue of “The Good News” that I received this morning in the regular mail and as I read the article, “The Danger of Distraction”?, I was reminded of what was being laid heavily on my heart and just how fast as a society that we are living.

Anyone who knows me personally,, knows I’m bad with cell phones.

I mean bad as in, I’ve lost them even in the closet. The other day when I forgot to bring it with me, my husband “tsk tsk” me and said I need to have it always with me and it got me to thinking, “What did we do before we had cell phones and running errands”?Sometimes a phone call meant coming home and checking the answering machine for messages. These days, it means getting a text message or notification that someone’s posted a message.

Call me very silly or old fashion, but I think I miss the days when time was just a little slower and we seem to get more done. These days, what comes first in our lives? The morning coffee or checking the email or our phones?

Think about Moses.

He spent 40 years as a shepherd, tending his flock in the desert. How many of us can last an hour without checking our email or have our cell phone with us? It’s almost NOT the norm to go camping without a signal or gps.

David.

He was a shepherd boy too. Life as a shepherd was pretty slow, not very exciting and pretty solitary with a lot of time to think. Nowadays, everywhere we go, there is music blaring from the ceilings, the t.v. is on, unless we are in the movies, the cellphones are ringing or if someone doesn’t even care to turn it (the cellphone) off then, going off in the movie theater.

Remember going out to eat and meaning face to face conversations with no phone interruptions from work? Work waited till the next day or until you came home for the evening and the answering machine light looked like it was ready to burst from all the messages.

Even Jesus, our Father’s Son, went out into the wilderness. No communication from anyone. Just Him and solitude. Paul went out to the desert for three years to prepare himself to do work for our Father.

The article shared something that is lost these days, “With all these men, something about the calm and quiet of the wilderness purged their minds of life’s distractions. In their solitude, God could fill them with purpose and passion. In the calm of quietness came conviction.”

 ⁴But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4, King James Version)

Technology is amazing and can be a blessing, but it can also be a double edge sword too. At one point, it can eventually be so much that it distracts us more than be of help.

I’m one to talk, but at the same time, it’s also a reason as I’m working to prepare for school and working on organizing my home, taking note too, how much time is too much for spending time online?

Via the “Good News Magazine“, in it’s article, “How can You Deal with Information Overload?”, a series of questions were asked:

Do you have a stack of journals, magazines and books on your desk that you really should read, but haven’t gotten to?

Ever feel frustrated because you don’t know how to use features on your cell phone, laptop or PDA?

Are you concerned that your job marketability is declining because your industry knowledge is getting out of date—but you just don’t have time to take the classes to stay current?

Do you often find yourself in conversations with others who bring up events in the news you’re unaware of—and you feel embarrassed admitting you don’t know what’s going on?

If you answer “yes” to any of the above questions, you’re experiencing information overload!

I thought it should have asked too…”Do you find yourself unable to have time to read the Bible?”, “Are you tired from juggling too many different schedules” , “Do you find the house often messy?” to name a few other questions that it should ask.

Notice how we tend to have time for everything but the things we really should do?

The article went on to share:

This state of having too much information to digest is known as information overload. Almost everyone suffers from it to some degree. It can cause stress, anxiety, fatigue, frustration, reduced productivity, an inability to concentrate and feelings of being overwhelmed and overburdened—eroding work efficiency as well as personal health and family life.

“There are only so many details in anyone’s life that can be handled comfortably,” Dr. Barreau says. “When that limit is exceeded, circuits begin to shut down. We refuse to process any more.”

When we find ourselves at that road, it’s time to go into the wilderness or our Heavenly Father would find a way to bring the wilderness to us. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you will have a grizzly bear in your kitchen, just make some coffee and biscuits and bacon and eggs and hubby will be back to normal, but it does mean that our Father will find a way to make us step back and refocus and prayfully, re-align ourselves back to where He wants us to be.

Remember Martha?

No.

Not Martha Stewart.

Different Martha-less scary cheery.

   ³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42, New King James Version)

Technology is great, but living in an area that is prone to hurricanes and having been through, I learn a quick lesson. It doesn’t take much and we don’t have the Internet, the computer, the cell phone or electricity at all and it’s those moments..those times in the wilderness that we need to learn to lean on what is more important.

Without electricity, our blogs become computer bytes that are non-retrievable, our cellphones, our computers, reduce to just man made metal and wires that can be damaged by water and rust, but our Father. Our Dear Father.

Never.

Ever.

He is always there.

He is the Rock that can never be torn down.

⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42, New King James Version)

MHC (Matthew Henry Commentary) shared this great commentary that really reinforced to me what has been tugging at my heart and as I read this month’s articles in the “Good News Magazine” just a reminder that we.have.to.take.time.

Time with our Father.

Time with our Family.

Time with our Fellowship with others

Time with our Friends.

But a balance in all of it.

As MHC shared,

Balancing work and reflection is tricky. Most people in Western cultures are forced to live harried lives. Often their full schedules are full of “good” activity, labor that has merit. One of the demands of a full schedule is that the activity be prioritized. Some things come high on the list; others must wait. Sometimes priorities have to be shuffled at the last minute to meet needs. The account of Martha and Mary is about such priorities, especially when the options are good ones.

This short passage is capable of being misread in a couple of ways (Alexander 1992:167-86). First, it is not about women; it is a passage on discipleship. Its point is not that women can get too easily caught up in the busy work of keeping the home. What is said to Martha about Mary would be equally true if Mary were male or even a child. The fact that two women dominate the story would have been shocking in the first-century context, where men often dismissed women as marginal, but the account is designed to make a point about all disciples. Second, the point is not that activity like Martha’s is bad. The choice Jesus discusses with Martha is between something that is good and something that is better. Life is full of tough choices, and Jesus is stressing the relative merits of good activities here. For conscientious people, such choices are often the most difficult and anxiety-filled.

Martha receives Jesus at her home as he travels from one village to another. John 11:1, 18 and 12:1 tell us that this home was in Bethany, so Jesus appears to be a few miles outside Jerusalem when this encounter occurs. This is one of several meal scenes Luke will narrate. Besides the host and the teacher, the other protagonist is the host’s sister, Mary, who sits at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. This is reminiscent of the Jewish saying in m. `Abot 1:4: “Let your house be a meeting house for the Sages and sit amidst the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst.”

Just as the Samaritan’s activity in the previous parable was surprising, so is this portrait of these women with Jesus. Why would a teacher spend time teaching only women? In the first-century culture the question would be inevitable. The fact that Jesus commends Mary and has a meal with Martha shows that Jesus is concerned about all people.

Martha is not comfortable with Mary’s approach to Jesus’ visit, since she could use another hand in the kitchen. She requests Jesus’ aid: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.” We know that Martha’s viewpoint is questionable not only because of Jesus’ reply but also because the text says she makes the comment while being distracted by all the preparations. In fact, in Greek she asks the question in such a way that the Lord is expected to give a positive answer (note the particle ou). The Lord does care, and Martha fully expects him to tell Mary to get up and help.

But as is often the case when Jesus is asked to settle a dispute, he refuses to side with the one who asks that things be decided in a particular way (compare Lk 12:13; Jn 8:4-7). Yet he responds tenderly and instructs in the process. The double address “Martha, Martha” indicates the presence of caring emotion, as such an address does elsewhere (6:46; 8:24; 13:34; 22:31). Jesus questions her not because of her activity but because of her attitude about it: “You are worried and upset about many things.” By comparing what she is doing to what Mary is doing, she has injected unnecessary anxiety into the visit. “Only one thing is needed.” With this remark Jesus sets priorities. “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus commends the hearing of the word at his feet. To take time out to relate to Jesus is important. The language of the passage recalls Deuteronomy 8:3 (Wall 1989:19-35). In a sense Mary is preparing to partake in the “right meal” (Deut 6:1-8). What she has done by sitting at Jesus’ feet will remain with her. This meal will last. Jesus is not so much condemning Martha’s activity as commending Mary’s. He is saying that her priorities are in order. To disciples Jesus says, “Sit at my feet and devour my teaching. There is no more important meal.”Looking to God: A Call to Pray (11:1-13)

Being tired.Being worn out. We are of no service to our Father, to our family, to our church, to our community if we don’t learn to stop with the distractions and balance it out.

Or as hubby would share if the kids had too much ice cream, “Too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing and can sometimes cause a stomache ache”.

So can the same be said when we don’t take time out for real, time out, go into the wilderness and spend quiet reflection with our Heavenly Father.

“The Internet Cafe Devotions” to learn more or share your own “Word Filled Wednesday”.

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