Wifey Wednesdays

Hello and welcome to Wifey Wednesdays, a podcast for women who are seeking to be the best wives they can be. I’m your host Emily Hatfield, and this is the show where the plan is always to do things God’s way, especially our marriages.

Before we get begin, let me ask you again to mark your calendars for October 3rd through 5th. In Henderson, Tennessee, we at the Light Network will be hosting a conference on The Good Life - a study of the beatitudes. The conference is absolutely free, and we would love to have you. You can find more information at our website - the light network dot tv or in the show notes of this episode. We’d love to have you there — most of our Light Network hosts will be giving lessons throughout the weekend, and it will be a great opportunity to get to connect with the hosts of your favorite podcasts!

Today’s episode looks at a very familiar woman, Mary - the sister of Lazarus and Martha. When we first meet this sister, she is at Martha’s house. Whether this is equally her house, I don’t know. But Luke 10 says this is Martha’s house. And Mary is there, sitting and listening to Jesus teach, while Martha is busy playing hostess. No doubt there are countless ways to talk about this topic, but today, I just want to see the power in a studios woman.

Martha gets flustered and bent out of shape because she is the one hosting everyone — busy serving everyone — and she’s missing the main thing. Mary isn’t. Mary has, according to Jesus, chosen the better part. Martha is doing a lot, but Mary is doing the necessary thing - listening to Jesus.

If we are honest, I think sometimes as women we tend to get Martha syndrome. We tend to busy ourselves and worry ourselves about all manner of things - especially if they are needful things. If you’re hosting people in your home, you do have to think about where they will be, what they will have, and what needs might arise that you will be responsible for meeting. But the thing is — there is more emphasis in Martha’s mind on the serving than on the Savior. This is where Mary has chosen the better part. But maybe it was an easier choice, because it’s Martha’s house. Martha feels like everything is on her. But, Martha also wants and expects Mary’s help. Mary just want to sit at the feet of Jesus.

I think this is a discipline. I think stilling ourselves from the busyness of all that our homes and our schedules and our kids and our jobs and our hobbies demand of us and sitting at the feet of Jesus is a discipline. You don’t accidentally find yourself studying and savoring His teaching. You don’t accidentally wind up growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s not accidental, ever. It’s intentional, just as it was with Mary sitting down at Jesus’ feet to listen. Mary had eyes that saw the importance of the guest and ears that were open to His teaching. Martha had eyes that saw all that needed to be done and a mouth that was quick to place blame and make accusations. Mary had a heart that longed to hear Jesus. Martha’s heart wanted Jesus to validate her frustration. Jesus clearly makes a distinction — Mary’s position is the proper one. Sitting and listening at Jesus’ feet is always the better choice.

We cannot be women who let ourselves validate our Martha tendencies. Now, let me be quick to say, Martha is an amazing woman in her own right. Read the account after Lazarus dies. She has amazing faith. But perhaps this amazing faith she ends up with is bolstered because Jesus rebuked her, as he did the wind, saying - be still.

We get busy. We get flustered. We get distracted with much serving. We get busy doing things that matter — but we miss the thing that matters most. We get busy being involved in good works while never pausing long enough to learn from the Master Teacher Himself.

We cannot expect to be women who are praised for our studious posture if we are never women spending time in the Word. We cannot expect to receive the same praise Mary does for sitting and listening at the feet of Jesus if we are never taking the time to sit and listen to Him.

This is, again, a discipline. Bible reading is a discipline. Bible study is a discipline. Undistracted worship is a discipline. And they are all necessary if we want to be women who are powerfully studious.

I’m gonna be honest with you — women’s stuff can be fluffy. Women’s stuff can be about as deep as a puddle. If I want meat, I’m not often looking at the women’s section first. Now, that’s not totally and completely true in every circumstance, but in the last fifteen years, it’s been the overwhelming truth for my experience. And why?? Why can’t women deeply study the Bible? Is it because we cannot be bothered to stop being so distracted by the worldly cares? Is it that we cannot be bothered to stop caring for all of the things around us and listen to the One who cares for our souls?? Is it that we prefer to take pre-digested stuff instead of digging in ourselves to the meat because that’s easier and quicker?? I don’t know what the reason is, but I know that there are far more Marthas than Marys, and I think we need to commit ourselves to stop being part of that problem.

Look at your life while I look at mine. Would the Lord rebuke you, would He rebuke me, for my study habits? Would He see me more serving other people and complaining about how busy I am and how little help I have in my area of service, or would He see me at His feet? Do I study more or do I busy myself and distract myself more? Notice that Martha isn’t distracted by anything sinful. She’s just missing the main thing. We may not be doing anything bad — on the contrary, it may be good things we’re wrapped up in. But if we’re not MOST wrapped in time in the Word, we aren’t being like Mary, and Jesus won’t praise us.

I want to be highly regarded by my Lord. I want Him to be pleased with me. When I look at Luke 10, I see that the Lord is pleased with a woman who will sit at His feet and listen. That’s where I want to find myself. I want to make time to study. I want to read all of His words for myself. I want to study for myself. I want to spend ample time in only His words — not other people’s opinions of His words.

Mary wanted to be at Jesus’ feet more than anything. There is so much power in that, mostly because Jesus IS the power. The Word - which is Who Jesus was before His human incarnation, John 1 tells us, The Word is powerful. If I want to be a powerful woman, I have to be filled with the Word — filled with Jesus. The only way to do that is to spend time at His feet.

I hope you’ll join me this week in spending time with the Lord. He is worthy of any and all of our time. May we prioritize time with Him, because - after all - He is supposed to BE OUR LIFE.

Thanks for listening to this episode, and until next time remember - love God, love your husband.