An Unlikely Offer

Boy, school has not slowed down since it started in August! This week is one of those weeks where essays, tests, and quizzes just seem to overlap each other. Sunday night I asked the Lord to protect and watch over me as I stepped into the busyness of this week. Recently, I have felt a yearning to just sit down and be immersed in the Word and spend all the time I have on God. With the ways of this world and my sinful nature of course, time with Him almost seems impossible other than the usual half-hour I spend in my reading plan. I have been reading the book Unseen by Sara Hagerty and it has been so convicting! This woman managed to write a (pretty AWESOME) book with SIX children at home. Shame on me for complaining about the schoolwork I have to do! In her book, she talks about how we do not have to perform for God to see us. He sees us in every area and situation we are in, busy or with nothing to do. I just finished reading chapter seven titled “Secret Extravagance”. The main Scripture focus throughout the book is about Mary and Martha in the four gospels. 

Summarizing the story, Jesus has come to Bethany just before his death, burial, and resurrection. He enters the house of Simon, and a woman named Mary came and sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to all he had to say. She had very expensive oil that she had for a long time and pours it on his feet, wiping it with her hair. Seems odd right? But this point is so beautiful. She loved Jesus with everything she had and couldn’t care less who was watching her! The other people around her including her sister Martha knew who Jesus was and believed him, yet they judged Mary for wasting this expensive oil. Meanwhile, Martha is in the kitchen making a meal to serve Him and she asks Jesus why Mary has left her to serve alone. However, Jesus did not see it that way at all. He responds in Luke 10:42, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her”. That was all Jesus wanted. Mary to fall at his feet in adoration.

Back to the chapter in Unseen, this chapter focuses on the verse in Matthew 26:8 that says, “Why this waste?” from the disciples’ judgment. This was the best waste possible. Many times, we are caught in the frantic checklists and to-dos, that every second of our day is valuable and cannot be wasted. But it is in this “wasteful” time that we absorb and quite our hearts long enough for the Lord to speak into us what He is trying to say. When we look at it from that standpoint, no minute seems wasted on the Lord. I love the way Sara explains it on page 127 of her book, “When we cross over to heaven, we won’t discover a new, mysterious craving for God. It is here that we practice. We cultivate. We are made for this: to waste time simply being with Him. Sitting at His feet enjoying Him isn’t a foolish expenditure of time. It’s strength training for heaven” (Hagerty, 127). Yes!!! When we reach the Kingdom, that’s all that we will be doing and all that God created us to do, worship Him!

I believe the Lord has put this on my heart lately in the chaos of day-to-day tasks. My boyfriend and I have a joke that we say if we are flustered or stressed out, “have you read today?” Funny, but so true! I want to be used every way possible by the Lord, but if I am not sitting down before Him, seeking what He is trying to unveil, I will be unaware of what He is calling me to. It is beyond easy to be lacking in awe of the wondrous works of God.

Sunday night, my parents and I were at small group with our friends from church, that we have a few times a month. The couple that hosts our group are formally from Florida. They lived there in their early twenties and had a multitude of stories they shared that sent chills down your arms. God used them in extraordinary ways in the simplest places that seem unimaginable if I were to be in that situation. But if God wants something to happen, He WILL make it happen! Leaving there that night, my parents and I couldn’t get over how inspiring their boldness for Christ was in the lives of the people He used my small group leaders to impact. It just goes to show how forgetful we are that our God does miraculous things through the most unlikely people, anytime & anywhere.

I am thankful for this time right now as I should be starting on my English essay for college, but I felt the Lord tell me to write this. I am praying for you, and myself that we can slow down and pour whatever we have to offer at the precious feet of Jesus, as Mary of Bethany did.

Psalm 42:1-2

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God”.