Last week I talked about drifting, which can happen when we play the comparison game and measuring what we have done per our expectations rather than what God gave us to do. We can take that deeper by discerning whose list we are following to reach those expectations.
I watched Elevation Church’s sermon this Sunday and it resonated with where I wanted to go with this. This happens a lot with these Monday posts. The final nuggets of truth I need to write them show up on Sunday somehow. And guess why I miss a Monday or post late, I’m distracted and I didn’t prepare things ahead of time. However, it’s me that made this schedule, but it’s not always God’s schedule for the next thing I have to write. Life has this uncanny knack of not going the way we expect, but if we are looking and asking Him for direction, He shows up.
What does this have to do with lists? Our expectations are based on a list. It could be what we think should happen. It can include what others think should happen. This leads to a lot of frustration and worry if focused on our list rather than on God’s list.
Let’s look at the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42. Martha invites Jesus into her home, but that includes all His disciples. I don’t know about you, but most of us are not ready to play host to the minimum of thirteen people when we invited one. Now Martha knows all about handling the hostess job, but realizes she needs some help. She has let her list of to-dos distract her from what Jesus would want her to do.
Martha is most of us in this life. Life is pulling us all over the place with its demands. This is perfectly normal. We have families, friends, jobs, organizations, and church that demand our time. They will pull us in many directions and none of them are necessarily bad. However, when we are convinced things have to go with our list and we do it the way we were brought up or the way the world expects us to do it, this stirs up worry and anger.
Martha made her list, but when she needed help, she asked Jesus to tell her sister to help her. She was not disrespectful because she calls Him Lord. She has proved she is resourceful and responsible because she has laid the table for her guests and knows what has to be done. Her expectations, the list in her mind, are not being met. She invited Him and is now trying to do right for thirteen men instead of one. Some of those men are pretty rough around the edges. In the end, her distraction of being the perfect hostess makes her miss the point of what Jesus is sharing at that table.
She is so wrapped up in this that she is handing the list of her needs to Jesus to get her sister to help. Meanwhile, Mary was not the one to invite them, and it wasn’t even her home. Sure, it was her sister, but she showed up because Jesus was there. I bet other people beyond Jesus’s entourage were there, so the house is full. Mary is listening to Jesus while Martha is listing things to Him.
When we are talking to God for help, are we giving a list of what we want done or are we asking for help to know what He wants done? Do we open up to hear His list? It is fine to talk to God about all our worries and desires. The bad thing is that we don’t leave the list with Him and let Him rearrange the agenda for something better. We are not engaging in our faith when we focus on our list rather than His.
I have a list of what I would love to see in 2025, but I honestly am not sure how some things would ever happen. I’m not holding on to the list too tightly. I can make plans, but God will direct my steps. I need to be listening to Him so I can adjust my list to be His. Sometimes I get my desires the way I thought. More often I do not, but the end results are better His way every time.
Martha learned from that day. When Lazarus, her brother, died and Jesus delayed, she still had some of her list that made her blame him for not showing up in time to save her brother. However, there is a pivot in how she relays this to Jesus. She knows in the end it has to be His list. She has to have faith that when He says her brother will rise again that it can happen now and not later in the promised resurrection. He answered her faith and Lazarus walked out of the tomb.
When worries and anger at things not going right hit you, stop to determine whose list you are following. Most likely you have wound up like Martha with far too much going on and letting it beat you up because you can’t do it like s0-and-so can or your efforts are not matching the worldly image you expect to achieve.
Let’s be open with God about our lists and how the world can prove a very distracting place that makes us miss His list for our life. Maybe something we thought was dead will be resurrected via our faith and His presence when we let Him determine the list.
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