LIFE PRESENTS INTERESTING SIT-UATIONS

"And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving”. . . .

— Luke 10:39-40

When the Lord walked this earth, He had no place to call home (see Matthew 8:20). But there was something He liked about a home in Bethany where a man named Lazarus lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe Martha was a great cook. Perhaps they were wonderful hosts.

Mary and Martha were quite different from each other. Mary was the quiet, contemplative type. Martha was the grab-the-bull-by-the-horns, assertive type.

One day, Jesus came to their home. Martha thought it would be a good idea to make Him a meal. She went into the kitchen and started working. Meanwhile, Mary thought it would be a great opportunity to sit at Jesus' feet and hear what He had to say. As Mary was sitting there, taking it all in, Martha was working frantically in the kitchen, growing more frustrated because Mary was not helping her.

Finally, she could not contain herself any longer. She came out of the kitchen, and looking down at Mary and Jesus, said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40).

Jesus responded, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (vv. 41–42).

Sometimes we can do the same thing. We can get so worked up. Like Martha, we sometimes offer activity instead of adoration, work instead of worship, and perspiration instead of inspiration. There is a time to sit and there is a time to move.

THE EMPTY NET SYNDROME

Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.'

" 'We'll come, too,' they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night."

— John 21:3

It was déjà vu time for the disciples. They had been fishing all night on the Sea of Galilee and hadn't caught anything. The Lord had risen. He already had appeared to some of the disciples. There were no clear marching orders, so they thought they would go back to what they knew how to do: fish.

Now it was early in the morning, probably still dark. They saw a figure standing on the shore. He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?"

Throughout the Bible, God often asked probing questions when He wanted a confession. In the same way, Jesus was asking His disciples, "Did you catch anything? Have you been successful? Have things gone the way you had hoped they would go? Are you satisfied?"

Why did Jesus want them to admit their failure? So He could bring them to the place where they needed to be.

When they cast the net on the right side of the boat, as Jesus told them to, their net became so heavy with fish that they couldn't pull it in. The Lord was teaching the disciples an important lesson: Failure often can be the doorway to real success.

We need to come to that point in our lives as well. We need to come and say, "Lord, I am not satisfied with the way my life is going. I am tired of doing it my way. I want to do it your way." If you will come to God like that, He will extend His forgiveness to you. Then He will take your life and transform it in ways you couldn't imagine.

IT'S BAD TO BE BITTER!!

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

— Ephesians 4:31-32

Augustine reportedly had a sign on his wall that read, "He who speaks evil of an absent man or woman is not welcome at this table." That would have ended a lot of conversations, wouldn't it?

The Bible tells us to "get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior" (Ephesians 4:31). Slander speaks of saying evil things about others behind their backs.

Bitterness, which is an embittered and resentful spirit that refuses to be reconciled, makes the Holy Spirit sad and sorrowful. Yet some people like to be mad. They live for conflict. They live for arguments. They live for fighting. They seem to actually like it.

Then there are the people who avoid conflicts, and I will admit that I am one of them. I don't like conflict. I dread it in fact. But some people are just looking for something to fight about, and they seem to go from conflict to conflict. You probably know people like this. They are always mad at someone. They always have their nemesis, the one person who is the source of all their misery, and they are always talking about him or her. And they often are very critical, constantly nitpicking and trying to uncover things in other people's lives.

Yet I have made an interesting discovery: the person who has been covering up sin in his or her life typically is always trying to uncover sin in the lives of others. It never surprises me when I find that the most critical people are guilty of something far worse themselves.

So don't live that way. It grieves the Holy Spirit. If you let bitterness go unchecked, it could lead you to take the next step—and to something even worse. Yikes!!!

BEGINNING Is Such A Big Deal---Really!

Some of our best ideas are still waiting for the right moment. We call it preparation. It's really procrastination. Eventually the due diligence phase yields to the do-nothing phase. And another good idea gets covered in cobwebs. Keep in mind what William Feather said: "Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing."

There’s something to be said for beginning now and filling in the details as you go. Not that details aren't important or that preparation isn't necessary, but at some you’ve got to quit compiling data and start pursuing results.

Do you know what the problem is? There’s no failure to face in the preparation stage. There’s no disappointment to deal with in the dream-casting stage. It’s only after the plan has been put into practice that you confront results that maybe don’t meet expectations. It’s easy to get nervous. It’s easier to plan just a little longer.

When Abraham was older than just about everyone who will be reading these words, God told him, "Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1) Abraham went, not having a plan in place, not knowing exactly hat lay ahead, only that he was following the voice of God.

There are times when it’s time to do just what Abraham did: take the first few steps, even if all the questions haven’t been answered and all the problems aren’t solved in advance. There's something to be said for beginning now. As George Allen, the coach of the Washington Redskins said many times to his team of the 70’s: “the future is the now!” Shed the paralysis of analysis and start implementing those plans, dreams, visions and cuddled aspirations. Make 2012 THE YEAR---be a NIKE sort of person and “JUST Do IT!!!”