On one of my flights this week I picked up a TIME magazine that was dedicated to Mother Teresa. I had heard of her and have been called her jokinly by others a few times, but never really knew what she did other than help others and that she was a nun. WOW!!! She is the ephiphany of everything I have always dreamed my life would be. Ive been asked my passion several times and helping people is at the top along with philantrophy and yet I seem to think its unrealistic to travel the world helping anyone in need, but she just put my heart back on the map! If you think one act of service is nothing and pointless and one person cant make a difference, you need to read her biography.
In her biography, letters she wrote in her journal to God were found and they are written as you would read poems and psalms from the bible. She struggled and questioned if God was there and/or listening because she at times felt so far away from him. How can someone who is his hands, feet and spirit feel so far away from God? It was hard to imagine, but the more I prayed on the flight for understanding and guidance this thought came to mind......Maybe her service was so busy she forgot the part of worship, not completely but at times. If you read her schedule it was pretty crazy reading what a week with her was like in another country and continent every few days. Even though she prayed daily, her service began to take over her worship, I believe and I say that from my own life experiences and from the bible story of Martha and Mary.
Mary had the ability to understand the heart of Christ much like Mother Teresa. Mary was consumed by thoughts of Christ so much that she was oblivious to anything else including Martha and the meal she was preparing. She was in a place of worship all the time that nothing else mattered. Martha on the other hand was so busy preparing and doing the service that she had momentarily forgot to do it in worship and began to be upset with Mary for doing nothing but socializing. Martha was a devoted servant . Luke 10:39-40 says "Mary....sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving." They both loved Christ very much, but had two different ways of showing it and one completely missed the message because she was too busy serving even though she was the one whom invited Jesus over in the first place. Even though the invite was much appreciated, Marys humble obedient heart was much more of a gift than the meal itself. When we worship we are honoring God with our time, thoughts, heart, soul...all our weights are lifted up and we are freed, the voice of the spirit speaks to us because we put ourselves in the vulnerable state of intimacy and make God priority.
So many times we are concerned with doing things for him that we arent open and ready to hear his words for us along with honoring and remembering who he is and what he has done for us. It is clear Mother Teresa wasnt by any means doing service to exalt herself, she is the true emblem of what selfless means, but I can imagine as her ministry grew global that the place of worship in her heart was distant from her creator at times making her feel alone and I think that we get so "busy" that we lose it at times as well but more importantly when we feel its not impacting or "working" then we give up leaving only exhaustion. We can tire ourselves out with activities in life and church, but what happens when we come home and have nothing left to give to our kids and spouses when they were our priority to begin with? We become so busy with activities that we are spiritually unbalanced leaving some of us feeling hopeless and we give up because we arent being filled or "entertained" anymore but the truth is if worship was present in every activity than a viral effect begins to make change happen and it has a purpose when you take the time to first seek then thank God for his words and being. Good deeds have great intentions but if they are done without Gods blessings and in his honor they have a tendancy to put focus on self. When we lose focus of Gods plan and design for us we get in a pattern of "doing things" for others and/or church and the inner beauty of what all that was created for is missed. Its easy to do and that is why I say "we" so much in this writing. Our "serving" can become a distraction and even a runaway house from the "one thing" we were supposed to and called to do.
These three women were extrodinary so please dont take my words wrong, I am not criticizing any of them but merely relating to them in my own life. Many of you cant say "no" to things and go from activity and event back to back and wear yourselves out that when you burn out you wonder why you did all that and then look at where your family went while you were so busy that the passion and worship somewhere along the way was displaced and you missed out on the life God created for you because you were busy making your own and then wonder why lifes not working out so well the way YOU wanted it to. Celebrate and worship, let him be your beacon of light and lead you to his wishes for you. When you make Christ the center of all that you do, then the things that you do have purpose and meaning. They grow, challenge and renew your faith and love in our very creator. We all go through times where we lose focus of what we are doing, its ok!!! Just acknowledge why your doing service in the first place and make sure its in line with worship so God can speak to and you wont be so busy that you miss his goodness and words for you.
In her biography, letters she wrote in her journal to God were found and they are written as you would read poems and psalms from the bible. She struggled and questioned if God was there and/or listening because she at times felt so far away from him. How can someone who is his hands, feet and spirit feel so far away from God? It was hard to imagine, but the more I prayed on the flight for understanding and guidance this thought came to mind......Maybe her service was so busy she forgot the part of worship, not completely but at times. If you read her schedule it was pretty crazy reading what a week with her was like in another country and continent every few days. Even though she prayed daily, her service began to take over her worship, I believe and I say that from my own life experiences and from the bible story of Martha and Mary.
Mary had the ability to understand the heart of Christ much like Mother Teresa. Mary was consumed by thoughts of Christ so much that she was oblivious to anything else including Martha and the meal she was preparing. She was in a place of worship all the time that nothing else mattered. Martha on the other hand was so busy preparing and doing the service that she had momentarily forgot to do it in worship and began to be upset with Mary for doing nothing but socializing. Martha was a devoted servant . Luke 10:39-40 says "Mary....sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving." They both loved Christ very much, but had two different ways of showing it and one completely missed the message because she was too busy serving even though she was the one whom invited Jesus over in the first place. Even though the invite was much appreciated, Marys humble obedient heart was much more of a gift than the meal itself. When we worship we are honoring God with our time, thoughts, heart, soul...all our weights are lifted up and we are freed, the voice of the spirit speaks to us because we put ourselves in the vulnerable state of intimacy and make God priority.
So many times we are concerned with doing things for him that we arent open and ready to hear his words for us along with honoring and remembering who he is and what he has done for us. It is clear Mother Teresa wasnt by any means doing service to exalt herself, she is the true emblem of what selfless means, but I can imagine as her ministry grew global that the place of worship in her heart was distant from her creator at times making her feel alone and I think that we get so "busy" that we lose it at times as well but more importantly when we feel its not impacting or "working" then we give up leaving only exhaustion. We can tire ourselves out with activities in life and church, but what happens when we come home and have nothing left to give to our kids and spouses when they were our priority to begin with? We become so busy with activities that we are spiritually unbalanced leaving some of us feeling hopeless and we give up because we arent being filled or "entertained" anymore but the truth is if worship was present in every activity than a viral effect begins to make change happen and it has a purpose when you take the time to first seek then thank God for his words and being. Good deeds have great intentions but if they are done without Gods blessings and in his honor they have a tendancy to put focus on self. When we lose focus of Gods plan and design for us we get in a pattern of "doing things" for others and/or church and the inner beauty of what all that was created for is missed. Its easy to do and that is why I say "we" so much in this writing. Our "serving" can become a distraction and even a runaway house from the "one thing" we were supposed to and called to do.
These three women were extrodinary so please dont take my words wrong, I am not criticizing any of them but merely relating to them in my own life. Many of you cant say "no" to things and go from activity and event back to back and wear yourselves out that when you burn out you wonder why you did all that and then look at where your family went while you were so busy that the passion and worship somewhere along the way was displaced and you missed out on the life God created for you because you were busy making your own and then wonder why lifes not working out so well the way YOU wanted it to. Celebrate and worship, let him be your beacon of light and lead you to his wishes for you. When you make Christ the center of all that you do, then the things that you do have purpose and meaning. They grow, challenge and renew your faith and love in our very creator. We all go through times where we lose focus of what we are doing, its ok!!! Just acknowledge why your doing service in the first place and make sure its in line with worship so God can speak to and you wont be so busy that you miss his goodness and words for you.
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