Editor’s Note: In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8), Women’s History Month in the United States, and the Lenten season, we will be publishing devotions written by women about the women who Jesus ministered to during his time on earth. This series will be called, “The Women Jesus Loved.”
We will be publishing the devotions on Mondays and Thursdays up until Passion Week. We hope you will return each week to see how Jesus loves all of us, including women. This is the fourth in the series. Read the other entries here.
Ever since the spread of COVID-19 has disrupted more and more of my normal routine, I’ve been getting more and more anxious. I’ve gotten shorter with my kids (who are now home with me every day), I get distracted more easily, and I sometimes have a pit in my stomach that won’t go away, even after a big dinner.
I think I have COVID-19 stress disorder. And I think the world does too.
We’ve seen this disorder manifested in many ways already. People are raiding stores and hoarding toilet paper. Retail outlets are rationing cases of water and canned goods, and there is no hand sanitizer to be found.
We are all troubled about how we are going to survive. We try to make preparations and cancel plans, but without adequate testing here in the United States, it’s hard to see what will happen next or who is sick. This fear permeates our lives, and it’s only growing.
We are all anxious.
The worst thing you can tell an anxious person is not to worry.
The second worst thing you can do is quote this verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
The third worst thing to do would be to quote Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:34).
That’s why when Jesus actually interacted with and counseled an anxious person, he did not say any of those things.
“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)”
We see instead that Jesus affirmed Martha and her feelings. “You are anxious and troubled about many things.” She was. She was “distracted with much serving.”
Many of Martha’s preparations were most likely out of a hospitable heart. She would want to make sure there was food and drinks available, as well as have a tidy room for the guest to relax in. But it is interesting that once Jesus did arrive, rather than staying with him to, she continued to be out of his presence — she was distracted.
Too often busyness is a reflection of a heart that is worried and anxious. There is a need to control something because the unknowns are so overwhelming. I can’t control the COVID-19, but I can control how my kids are doing their classwork and enforce how much screen time they have. We can’t know who is sick, but we can hoard supplies.
We plan for contingencies, all while knowing that we are fighting against an invisible enemy. So now we are busy thinking of ways to stay safe, stay home, stay connected, and stay mentally healthy. It is exhausting.
I personally struggle with the idea that if I don’t take care of it, it will fall apart. So I’m always harried and hurried around the house with its infinite chores. But when I try to share the load with my family, I blow up when they don’t do it my way and then make a mistake. Now that we’re stuck at home together, I can already see sparks of this tension that comes from my need for control, which has been fueled even more by the fear of the virus.
So our anxiety and the busyness it creates feels necessary in this climate of uncertainty and fear. Don’t we wish for a magic bullet that will fix it all?
“But one thing is necessary.”
I wonder if Martha perked up at Jesus’ words? “Just one more thing? That’s it? I can do that.” Perhaps she thought that doing this “one thing” would be the solution to her anxious heart. But what did Jesus say?
“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
That one thing that is important? It is to be in the presence of Jesus. The thing we have to do before anything else? It is to sit at our King’s feet. It is to be comforted by the fact that our Lord knows all of our struggles, worries, and insecurities. It is to know that we can trust in our Savior during uncertain times. And we can trust because Jesus is in the room with us.
Our Messiah hasn’t left or ignored us during these turbulent times. He is Immanuel, God with us. We are the ones distracted by our tasks, our need for control, and our fears. Be he is right there, waiting for us.
And when we sit at the feet of Jesus, our good portion will not be taken away. Our hope is secure because our relationship with Jesus will never falter, fade, or disappear.
Our anxiety may still be there. The circumstances might never change. It might even get worse. But Jesus will never be taken away. He promises he will be with us. And he kept that promise when he died and resurrected, defeating sin and death forever.
Maybe you’re not convinced, and you think Jesus is giving a cop-out answer. I thought like this for a long time. But then I looked more closely at how Jesus spoke to Martha. And I think the most beautiful part is how he begins — is how he calls out her name twice.
“Martha, Martha.”
A select few in the Bible have had their names repeated in this way.
The angel of the Lord called out, “Abraham, Abraham” to stop him from killing Isaac (Genesis 22:11). God said Jacob’s name twice before he crossed into Egypt to be reunited with his son, Joseph (Genesis 46:2). In Exodus 3:4, God calls to Moses two times from the burning bush. The priest Samuel was called to be a prophet by God in this way (1 Samuel 3:10), and Simon was warned by Jesus during the Last Supper (Luke 22:31). And of course, this was how Jesus called Saul on the Road to Damascus, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4).
I don’t want to make too many inferences and connections here because the circumstances of these men were so different. But I do want to point out that in these passages, we can clearly see that our God is one who knows us and guides our steps.
Martha is known. A woman who did not have the same rights or privileges as men did is known by the Messiah, and he addresses her with love. He calls her name twice, showing affection for her and that the correction was out of a loving relationship.
Martha is guided by Jesus. He warns her of her tendency to be anxious, troubled, and distracted. But he also shows her so much grace, giving her a calling — to listen to Jesus’ teaching — and a place where she is at peace and can surrender control — at the Lord’s feet.
In the same way, Jesus does not demand that we drop all of our anxieties at the door of our churches. He does not ask us to forget about our circumstances in our prayers. But instead, he asks us to sit under his watchful eye, rest in his presence, and trust that no matter the worries, he is with us.
Can we learn from Martha? Can we listen as Jesus calls our name twice, inviting us into his presence, even in these fearful times? Then we can hear his words to not be anxious and believe them, knowing that we already have the greatest treasure that will never be taken away.
So as the nations worry and our communities are troubled, may we be people who bring our anxieties to the Lord. May we be constantly returning to the foot of the cross. May we hear that Jesus calls our name twice. He does not forget us nor forsake us. He is Emmanuel.