Tonight we were treated to a Texas-style dinner from a ministry team that comes up here every year to love on the pastors and wives in the Green Mountain Baptist Association. I can’t count the number of years we have been a part of this, but we have really loved this team’s visits every year.
Every
year they sing a few special songs for us, and this year was no different. As they
started the number, the music seemed very quiet. They were using a small CD
player for their music, so the volume was limited for this group that was
spread out. I noticed one of the ladies looking at the director and trying to
catch his eye in a way of telling him that she could not hear the music. So, in
true Robyn form, I whispered to Trey, “Go see if you can turn up their music.”
Well,
he looked at me as if I had totally lost it. I was basically asking him to stand
up in front of everyone, move to the front of the room, and fill in as sound
guy for a group that had not asked for his help. Then Trey, with all the grace
he is known to speak with, said to me, “Isn’t this just like us; we see a need
and immediately want to jump into action.”
And
I felt God say to me: Sometimes it’s okay to sit back and not act.This was a small thing—the adjustment of volume for a visiting group. But I do this with so many things. Jump in before I’m asked to “save the day” so that others can go on with their lives. This can be a blessing to those I’m serving. But it can also be a curse to me over time. In a way, this behavior was learned from my own father, who had an uncanny ability to find the needs in the room with one sweep, and with the other sweep, fix them all. He couldn’t help himself. The last time he came here for a visit, I had to force him away from me as I was folding bulletins at our church (yet another job I swooped in to do many months ago and still am doing to this day).
It appears I am passing on this blessing/cursing behavior to my own daughter, who also has an ability to survey a room and in a second know who needs a hug or a special word. She is just getting started in her life of “filling the gaps” and “coming to the rescue”.
I am not in any way saying that serving each other, especially serving the Church, needs to stop. I am saying that in our service we can actually find ourselves like Martha who was “worried and bothered about so many things,” forfeiting “the good part, which will not be taken away from us.”
As
I was reflecting on this (my mind works pretty fast) the words of the song the
visiting team was singing finally caught my attention:
Oh the deep, deep love of
Jesus,Vast unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current
Of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to
Thy glorious rest above!
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth
never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own
how for them He intercedeth, watcheth
o'er them from the throne!
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
'Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
And then I felt Him love me! No wonder Mary chose to sit as his feet rather than serve. She chose to be with the One Who Loved Her at the moment His Presence was there. Martha missed the gift of that love by busying herself and seeing it as more important.
So my lesson from today is this: Sit at His feet. Ignore all the needs for a moment, difficult as that may be, and let Him love you. It won’t be taken away from you.
It's hard to say "NO" when your gift, heart, and passion are ministry and service. However, we need to do that, and not feel guilty for it.
ReplyDeleteRest and be Renewed!