finding joy – lesson 2
who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
here’s the synopsis of last wednesday night ladies’ Bible study. sorry, it’s late!!
we discussed Luke 10:38-42, the martha-i’m-sick-of-doing-everything-alone, Jesus-make-my-sister, mary,-help-me story.
first of all, can i just say, i’m so martha. gotta get everything done before i can sit down and enjoy myself. and we talked about how martha’s personality of being a do-er is not the problem, for all you do-ers, like me. the problem was that she was letting it get to her that mary wasn’t a do-er she was a be-er, particularly when it came to sitting with the Lord. Jesus didn’t fuss at her for being a do-er, as one of the women wednesday pointed out, what if service was one of martha’s love languages. indeed, God built her personality into her, but not the jealousy/grumbling part. that’s what Jesus addressed.
what was great, was looking at verse 40 and seeing that martha’s real problem was her “distraction” from what really mattered. oh, so me.
i also liked this quote from richard carlson, the man who wrote “don’t sweat the small stuff”, “So many of us live our lives as if the secret purpose is to somehow get everything done. We stay up late, get up early, avoid having fun, and keep our loved ones waiting…. I find that if I remind myself (frequently) that the purpose of life isn’t to get it all done but to enjoy each step along the way and live a life filled with love, it’s far easier for me to control my obsession with completing my list of things to do.” did i mention, this is me?
we offered prayers of gratitude for a specific insight we gained from this lesson so far and then wrote down on small slips of paper one upcoming situation or activity we’re feeling anxious about, our name and phone number, and passed it to the woman on our right. we’re to call the woman who’s concern we received, this week, ask her how she’s feeling about it, encourage her with something we learned in this lesson, and find out how we can help her with it.
our homework this week is to rewrite psalm 27:4-6 in our own words. we are to spend a few minutes meditating on it each day this week, considering which of the benefits of keeping our focus on God are real in our lives right now.
-psalm 27:4-6-
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
thanks for joining us again! next time, bring some fruit, sip some ice water, get ready to wrangle kids and pray above the happy insanity of the playing and fighting that’s all around us. we’ve got enough sippy cups, diapers, and toys to go ’round, but you gotta bring your own laughter – we don’t ever have enough!
