Martha, Martha

In the last few days I have had some severe panic episodes. In these times I have noticed something about the way I tend to handle it, through the lens of being a Christian. Because if you are a child of God everything should be seen through that lens.

I'm going to start here with a commonly read and fairly well known story from the Bible.

" Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,”the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

~Luke 10:38-42

When in the heat of the panic I am trying to "Martha" my way out of it. I am Marthaing like no one's business! I am trying relaxation stuff, and taking meds, and cleaning like a fiend. Now don't get me wrong, these are good things to do, but they are secondary to what is better.

The very first thing I should do when I find myself in this state is to "Mary". I need to sit down at the feet of Jesus and lay that crap down at His holy feet. I need to let go of it with both hands and trust that He's got control over it. Once you whisper His name and ask Him for help and hand it over, it becomes His fight and not your own. You can hand it over and STOP fighting!

So here is the new plan Mary first, then Martha a bit, because that's who I am.