Martha, Martha

“And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”

Luke 10:41



Most everyone who owns a bible has read or heard the story of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus and in whose home Jesus spent much of His time during His travels between Jerusalem and the Galilee region. They were Jesus friends and they obviously enjoyed His company in a way few people did as He ate and slept and did home bible studies there frequently.

There are many lessons we can learn from these 5 verses in Luke 10. Pick up the story in verse 38, “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "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”.

What was the difference between Mary and Martha in this story here we should be asking ourselves? Most conclude the obvious in that Mary chose to stop what she was doing and come and sit at Jesus feet while her sister Mary stayed in the kitchen preparing the food for her guests. The not so obvious and more important life lesson Jesus was addressing was what worry does to our lives. When Jesus spoke with Martha He pointed out that she was worried and troubled about many things. That was Jesus whole point in talking with her. Jesus never questioned Martha’s loved for Him or even her devotion to Him. What Jesus was pointing out to Martha was that worry causes us to become double minded and incapable of making the best decisions. Thats what the word anxious means, a torn or a separated mind. Jesus was pointing out to Martha in all her worrying she ended up making the wrong choices. If you have ever made a bad choice under stress you can relate to Martha here.

None of us can prevent worry from coming our way but what we all have control over is how we respond to it. Worry needs to become the signal in each of our lives that alerts us to pray. Thats why Peter would write in 1 Peter 5:7, “casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares about you.” If we didn’t have worries we would have nothing to cast away to the Lord, so it’s obvious from scripture God understands that we are prone to worry and so He provides its remedy.

It’s pretty clear from the story that Mary understood the difference between good and best, where as Martha’s worried mind prevented her from discerning the difference. Martha obviously had the gift of hospitality in that she welcomed Jesus into her home and as a good hostess she felt responsible for her guests care. So where did Martha go wrong you might be thinking? After all, Martha most likely went straight to the kitchen and began preparing food to eat. Mary, Martha’s sister was most likely serving right along side her until Jesus began to speak in the other room. Mary knew that being fully engaged is God’s desire for our lives, not being so busy that it keeps us from engaging Him. I like that statement, “wherever you are be all there.” The book of James teaches us that a double minded person is unstable in all his ways. Thats what worry and stress do to us. They cause us to be double minded. Mary, when the stress and worry of where she should be came to her mind she chose to go with Jesus.


The message of Mary and Martha is a contrast between being busy with worry and being engaged. Our schedules might be full but being too busy is a choice. Martha let serving get in the way of receiving and stress prevented her from making the right choice. Its like the old saying, “if we are so busy we don’t have time to pray then we are just too busy.” Martha was busy but in Jesus mind she wasn’t being effective and the proof was made evident when she opened her mouth to speak. Instead of kindness being on her lips, worry and stress brought out complaints as she was troubled by what her sister wasn’t doing. Can you think of a time you responded in an unkind way when you were stressed? She was worried about things that shouldn’t have concerned her but then again, thats what worry and stress do to us.

The good news is there is a solution for our worry and stress today. Do you want to turn your worry into worship? If so, Pray! Don’t allow stress to tear your mind in two today. Instead, allow your cares to bring you to Jesus where you can find rest for your heart, your mind and your soul just like Mary did. Like Mary, discover the better part today, come sit at the feet of Jesus.



"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD…”

Isaiah 1:18  


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