by MeredithNMills | Jul 17, 2018 | abiding in Christ, freedom, friendship, grace, growing in Christ, knowing God, rest, Uncategorized, Walking by Faith
Sometimes I get distracted.
Sunday night, hubby came home from a week-long business convention in Pennsylvania. We stayed busy while he was gone – the big kids went to STEM camp each day, our littlest enjoyed several play dates with her besties, and I wrote lots and lots of words. When the weekend rolled around, we were all more than ready for Daddy to be home.
Except that I wasn’t ready when he got home.
Dinner wasn’t done. The bathroom deep clean that had exploded into our bedroom wasn’t… well, cleaned up. The laundry sat where I’d left it, waiting to be put on hangers and hung in the closet.
How I wanted everything to be perfect when he walked in the door. But alas, real life got in the way.
And guess what? He didn’t care.
He just wanted to be with us. To hear about our week and tell us about his. To snuggle up close and enjoy the evening together.
As I bustled about the kitchen trying to hurry the cooking along, I remembered the story of another woman with whose life I so often relate.
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.
I so get Martha! She loved Jesus and wanted everything to be perfect for Him. That meal in the oven was an expression of her affection. She longed to make Him comfortable, to help Him feel at home.
Yet all Jesus wanted was her.
Her heart, her focus, her devotion – not shown through works done in His name, but through responding to His loving pursuit.
In contrast to restless Martha, there sat Mary — the picture of a quiet heart.
Yeah, there were unfinished chores to be done. But Jesus had arrived, and she had to be near Him.
Serving from a distance just would not do.
If He was sitting in the living room, that’s where Mary wanted to be. If He went to the dining room, you’d find her there. If He walked outside, she’d join Him there, too.
Mary was preoccupied with Jesus.
The Bible mentions this Mary several other times – once at Lazarus’ tomb, where she brought her grief to Jesus just before He raised her brother from the dead, and again at a dinner party, where she anointed His feet with expensive perfume as an act of worship*.
In both scenarios, Mary went where Jesus was. She loved Him and needed Him, so she ran to Him with zero hesitation.
Oh, God, give me such a heart! May I never be content with days full of service yet absent of connection with You. Teach me to cultivate Your presence, both in my “daily quiet times” and in middle of my everyday crazy. 
How about you? How do you practice the presence of God? In what ways do you cultivate a quiet heart? I’d love to hear – please leave a comment below!
Related Posts:
Rest For the Restless
On Rest and Quiet Time
*John 11:32, John 12:1-3
by MeredithNMills | Jan 16, 2018 | fear, freedom, grace, Identity in Christ, pain, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Waiting, Walking by Faith
Panic gripped my heart as I read the text from my sister –
“Emergency Alert: Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” 
My sister and her family moved to Hawaii three weeks ago. Just in time to enter the path of a ballistic missile.
I fought back tears while searching Google for any sign this might be a mistake. Thankfully, I found tweets calling it a false alarm, and within minutes my sister confirmed the alert had indeed been an error.
Relief replaced fear as I thought of what could have been.
These are crazy times, crazy scary times, in which we live. How easy it would be to spend our days in fear or negativity. And we’d have good reason to live that way, except for one thing.
We belong to the God of hope.
Hope.
What a beautiful, life-giving, fear-quenching word. Used nearly 150 times in Scripture, hope is central to our faith in Christ.
“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary” (Hebrews 6:19, NLT).
No situation, no tragedy, no uncertainty, no problem, no sin can change who our God is – merciful and gracious, all-powerful and perfectly pure. He Himself is our hope, the anchor of our souls in every storm we’ll ever face. And He’s always at work – in good times and bad.
In this hope I rest, secure in the love and goodness of God lavished on me though Jesus.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But I know I won’t face it alone.
The God who holds eternity in His hands, who keeps the stars shining and the earth in orbit – that’s my God. He loves me and is always with me. He’s washed me clean in His blood. He’s made me forever His child. And one day, He’ll right every wrong and make all things new.
This hope – it’s the anchor of my soul.
How about you? If you know Jesus, how does your friendship with God give you hope? What does that look like in everyday life? I’d love to hear!
Related Posts:
On Questions Without Answers
When Life Hurts
When Life Blindsides You
by MeredithNMills | Sep 19, 2017 | Family, fear, freedom, grace, growing in Christ, Uncategorized
Lean in close, I have a secret to tell…“I am a recovering control freak.”
Seriously.
Life is good when things go according to plan, when nothing too crazy happens, and when people behave themselves. But if things start to veer too far off course, I get anxious.
God has grown me a lot in this area over the last few years, though. I’m learning to raise the white flag, to trust Him and listen to His voice when things seem out of control.
I had an opportunity to practice this recently – with my own sweet child in my very own home.
Read the rest of this story at Just18Summers, where I’m sharing today about parenting and when to raise the white flag of surrender.
by MeredithNMills | Aug 15, 2017 | abiding in Christ, freedom, grace, growing in Christ, Identity in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Waiting, Walking by Faith
“Please don’t let me mess up. Help me not to make a mistake.”
I stood in front of our church congregation, filling in as a member of the worship team. I would be leading out on the next song. My stomach was in knots as I thought through all that could possibly go wrong, things that have gone wrong in the past.
I could forget the words. My voice could crack. I could miss that high note.
Listening to the song’s intro (my heart obviously not worshiping), I realized something quite convicting – I’m quick to admit I’m not perfect. I talk about transparency and the importance of being real, of extending grace in our weaknesses and laughing at our embarrassing moments.
But I don’t like people to see me make mistakes. I want to control which imperfections they observe.
It’s one thing to talk about our mistakes and embarrassments, even our sins, in the past tense. It’s another matter to mess up when people are watching.
For most of my life, I’ve aimed at perfection. It seems a worthy pursuit. Jesus Himself said, “You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
When the Bible uses this word perfect, however, it has the connotation of completeness and maturity.
This term “can be used in a relative or absolute sense…God’s perfection is absolute; man’s is relative reaching the goal set for Him by God with each individual different according to one’s God-given ability.” – Lexical Aids to the New Testament, Key Word Study Bible
God is perfect. He’s sinless and holy. He needs and lacks nothing.
We, His children, on the other hand, are in the process of becoming perfect and mature. We’ve been declared righteous and our sins have been washed away. Yet the Holy Spirit is about the lifelong work of forming Christ in us – and He’s not in a hurry.
True perfection, like all of Christianity, revolves around Jesus, not our own efforts to keep a good image or avoid mistakes. Jesus is our example, as well as our Source of transformation. He uses even our weaknesses to mature us and make us like Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.)
So today, instead of focusing on myself and the image I want to maintain, I choose to rejoice in the work God is doing in my heart, my life and my home.
How about you? How is Jesus perfecting you these days?
Related posts:
The Gardener
Thanksgiving in the Midst of Failure
by MeredithNMills | Jan 15, 2016 | confidence, fear, freedom, grace, knowing God, ministry, rest, serving, Uncategorized, Walking by Faith
“Don’t You care that she’s not helping me?”
Martha’s words reflected the turmoil in her soul. With so much to do, how could Mary just sit there? Did she forget about their large dinner party tonight? The food wouldn’t cook itself!
Martha wanted so much for everything to be perfect – the meal, the accommodations, the service. It wasn’t everyday that Jesus came to visit! She had to make sure He was comfortable during His stay. He needed to feel honored, to know how much she loved Him. But…how could she do it all alone?
“Don’t You care that she’s left me to do all the work? Tell her to get up and get busy!”*
Do you ever feel like Martha? I know I do. All the time. Hubby jokes about my impossible “to do” lists. But it’s true. I seem incapable of creating a “to do” list that’s actually doable.
Oh, I totally get Martha. I know what it’s like to feel resentful when my priorities are not a priority to others.
So when I came across this passage in my Bible reading last week, I spent a while reflecting on it. Where did Martha go wrong? What is life’s one true necessity that Mary chose? And seriously, did Jesus not care about dinner? I mean, just practically speaking, how was dinner going to get on the table if both Mary and Martha sat at His feet?
What strikes me most in this account is the tenderness that exudes from Jesus’ gentle rebuke.
“Martha, Martha…My dearly loved Martha! I do see your hard work! I know you want to honor me and prove your devotion. But, Martha, that’s not what I want from you! You’re so distracted, so anxious, so uptight. You’re trying so hard all the time. Trying to take care of everyone. Trying to stay on top of things. Trying to do the right thing.
“I want you to quit trying and just come rest.
“Just be near Me. Listen to My heart. That’s what Mary has chosen. I won’t send her away to get busy.”*
The key difference, it seems, between the two sisters is this – Martha was driven to serve, while Mary drew near in love. Her adoration compelled her to just be close. To hang on His every word. To listen to His heart. To know Him deeply.
And Jesus said nothing in the world matters more.
His call to know Him and be near Him is woven through all the pages of Scripture.
“Cease striving and know that I am God…” (Ps 46:10a).
“Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Phil 3:8).
“Oh, that we might now the Lord! Let us press on to know Him…” (Hos 6:3a).
“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good…” (Ps 73:28a).
“Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace…” (Heb 4:16a).
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” (Jas 4:8).
Boil it all down, and we find this at the heart of Christianity – being near God. It’s expressed in many different ways…Abiding in Him. Drawing near to Him. Learning from Him. Loving Him. Fixing our eyes on Him. But it all comes back to intimate nearness with God. Everything else in life flows out of that.
This nearness is certainly cultivated in quiet alone times with Him. But thankfully, for this mama with littles (who finds “quiet time” a bit elusive), I’m learning it can also be cultivated in the noise and activity of life. In my busy “Martha moments,” when dinner truly must get on the table, I can still have the heart of Mary as I rest in my relationship with Him. Serving my family (and anything else I do) can be an overflow of my walk with Him. As I receive and rest in His love, I can freely give it to those around me.
So whatever our season, however busy our days, let us press on to know Him!
How do you cultivate the nearness of God in your daily life?
*This is my paraphrase. 🙂 You can read the whole story in Luke 10:38-42.
