…Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? (Luke 10:40b)
Have you ever felt that you have been left to serve alone? As a busy mom, you may feel overwhelmed with the daily tasks of training your children and managing a household. Perhaps at your job, you feel that others expect you to pick up the slack and “fill in” when they choose not to fulfill their responsibilities. Maybe people you have loved, trusted, and depended on have forsaken you, with scarcely a backward glance.
Perhaps as a caregiver for someone who is ill or elderly, you are receiving little or no assistance or reprieve, even from others who should be helping to shoulder the load. As an older sibling, you may feel tasked with responsibilities that others in your household don’t seem to share. Maybe you are serving the Lord without a spouse, and the loneliness you experience as you serve seems impossible to overcome.
The list could go on. Maybe none of the above were your exact circumstance, but the truth is that it is easy to feel that we have been left to serve alone, even if (and sometimes because) we are serving the Lord.
Serving the Lord does not exempt us from trouble, discouragement, stress, or hurt. It does not give immunity from pain or persecution; in fact, sometimes, serving the Lord invites those very things.
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. (Luke 10:38-40)
Martha felt distressed and discouraged in the presence of Jesus while serving Him. She felt upset and out of sorts with her sister because she put expectations on her that Mary did not fulfill. She felt she had been “left to serve alone.”
Sometimes, our service is within our God-given roles and responsibilities. The duties of life can be incredibly demanding at times. On occasion, our service becomes troubling because we have assumed burdens and tasks God never intended us to bear.
Of course, there are instances when others will place these things on us, but sometimes we pick them up ourselves. Sometimes, those “extra things” are the things we really want to or like to do, but assuming them causes us to neglect or be frustrated by the things God has commanded us to do.
Either way, it is easy to get to a point just like Martha – frustrated, “careful and troubled,” hurt, angry with others, and even lonely. We can feel like we are in a hamster wheel that is impossible to escape! Martha got so distraught that she questioned if Jesus even cared about her.
How did Jesus handle Martha’s demands and accusations?
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:41-42)
First, Jesus recognized Martha’s problem. He responded immediately to Martha, gently addressing her problems, and correcting her assumptions. Jesus said, “Martha, Martha,” and you can almost hear the tenderness in His voice. Perhaps there was also a touch of disappointment and certainly a great deal of concern in His response. He corrected her because He loved her and wanted to help her, just as He does each of us.
Second, He was gentle in His correction. While He was gentle, He was also specific in His identification of her problem. He clearly and concisely addressed the root issues in Martha’s own heart, mind, and will.
He acknowledged that she was “careful” – worried, full of care. We might call it stressed. She was also “troubled” – unsettled, uncertain, agitated, and disturbed in her mind. We know that God does not want us to be “careful and troubled” as Christians:
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14:1)
Often though, we are much as Martha was – careful and troubled about many things. When Jesus addressed Martha, He sought to refocus her priorities. He told her, “…one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part…” He distilled the “many things” down to “one thing.”
Just as Martha did, we can quickly get overwhelmed by the many things in life and service if we are not focused on the one thing that is essential.
We also see this principle of “one thing” exemplified in the testimony of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14:
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
This is such an important truth for us to grasp. Many things will demand our time and attention, but one thing is needful. Mary made the right choice.
In this account, we learn that our priorities are our choice, and if we do not choose wisely, it will harm us. Wrong priorities and the wrong perspective of Jesus will rob us of peace and joy. They will hurt our relationships with those around us.
Mary chose to do what was truly necessary – time at the feet of Jesus, listening and learning. She chose what was beneficial and valuable, what was good and right. Finally, Mary chose what was lasting. An eternal perspective gives us so much clarity. How often we pour our time and energy into things that will be gone and forgotten in moments or days and neglect that which is eternal. We must learn to prioritize those things which cannot be taken away from us.
If you feel that you have been “left to serve alone”, pause and consider our Savior. Jesus became a servant for our sake. He was left alone, forsaken by God, so that we need never be forsaken. He highly values those who serve for His sake.
If we will only come to Him and seek to learn of Him, we will find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We will find rest and peace for our souls.