Those Ah-Ha Moments...

We are studying about Martha and Mary in our home-Bible Study group.  Two very different personalities and two that most women would pick one or the other to say they are most like.  Martha is the doer, the woman with alot to do and she just flat puts her head down and gets it done.  Mary is the dreamer, the quiet soul who contemplates before she does anything, making sure her decisions are the right ones and never seems to get ruffled in much of any way. 

The woman that wrote the study is very adept at getting right to the point and there have been points in the study that felt like just that - sharp, barbed points.  There have been moments during this venture that I have winced at how clearly God points to my shortfalls and my bad attitudes.  I think all of us have had those moments.  It hasn't been so bad as to make us quit.  We are a resilient bunch, and we truly do want to get better.  Better at making our Martha-Get-It-Done attitudes mesh with our Mary-Quiet-Soul-Listen-to-God-Better hearts.

Today was an Ah-Ha moment for me...  I believe there are times that you ask God for clarity, and He waits until you are truly ready to hear the answer.  Waits for what seems like a looooong time.  Long enough that you have gone on your way, sure He either didn't hear, or the question wasn't worthy of a response...  And then one day, seemingly out of the blue, you get it.  You get it in a way that can be nothing other than Divine Intervention.  A voice through your usual fog of busyness that cannot be mistaken for all the other voices you hear on a regular basis.  Clarity on where you are falling down.  Like a light shone on a crack in the sidewalk you walk every day and only now you see why you trip there...  The crevasse is one that you are shocked you haven't seen before, but that is how He works.  He shows us only when we are ready to fix it.  I am standing there now, looking at that gaping maw and shaking my head.  So seemingly simple.

I have been looking to God for justice.  I have not looked to him for comfort. 

In Martha's transformation from a woman who is doing too much, too fast and expecting everyone around her to do the same level of work, she is rebuked by Jesus.  She looks at her sister sitting at the feet of the Saviour and feels as if she is doing all the work herself.  She sees a houseful of guests and lots to be done and she realizes she is the only one DOING.  Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus in the living room, doing NOTHING!  She reaches out the Messiah for justice...  He lovingly slaps her hand.  He tells her to sit down, stop worrying and stop trying to make her sister something she is not...  Later we see Martha again.  She is not the same woman.  Again, Jesus is coming over... There is much to be done.  She has a houseful of guests once more...  She is grieving over the loss of her brother, Lazarus.  She could be bitter - "Oh, here HE comes again...  More work and less help, once more..." But that is not her response.  Instead of Mary, Martha is the first one out the door to meet Him, leaving her guests to fend for themselves for a moment.  And this time, she seeks the comfort she knows He will give her...  (Insert Ah-Ha moment here.)  She isn't seeking justice, she isn't there to yell because He is late - She simply wants her Friend to comfort her.

I have missed that lesson... Until now.