March 3, 2022
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As we drove through Utah that day I kept "oohing" and "ahhing" at one magnificent view after another. Majestic mountains, and this rugged terrain, fabulous vistas - I loved it! Then my wife reminded me that I'd seen all this before. Oh, more accurately, I should have seen it before. See, I had traveled these same scenic highways on a bus with our Native American outreach team On Eagles' Wings a couple of years before. But much of the time, I had my head down, I was buried in my work or preparation or I was busy talking with one of the team members. In the process, I totally missed some of this country's greatest beauty.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Busy for the Beauty."
So I missed some wonderful beauty because, yeah, too busy. Unfortunately, that's not the only time in my life I've made that mistake. And I don't think I'm the only one who's made it. In our overheated, overscheduled lives, it's just so easy to speed right by some things that are too beautiful to miss - in our surroundings, in our son, in our daughter, our grandchild, our husband or wife, in the blessings that God's unfolding right in front of us. And even in hearing the voice of God.
Many of us have been - well, OK here's a word that isn't one - "Martha-ed." Yeah. Now, even though it's not a word, it is a familiar reality I think. Let's watch busy, busy Martha missing the beauty around her in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Luke 10, beginning with verse 38, and I have to tell you, I see a mirror here almost. And I see what I'm like sometimes. Maybe it's a mirror for you, too. You decide.
Here's what it says. "Martha opened her home to Jesus. 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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better.'"
Martha has the Son of God in her home! Mary realizes what an opportunity this is, but Martha's so busy she misses it. And she turns negative toward her sister, she starts attacking her. I think Martha is the patron saint of all of us who are sometimes too busy to stop and see the beauty right in front of us. For someone listening today, God's trying to say to you, "Would you slow down and smell the flowers?" You are missing precious, never-again moments in the life of your child, or in your relationship with your husband or wife, moments that will never come again. Or maybe beauty in other people that you care about. Your busyness may have made you mechanical, robotic, brittle, maybe even insensitive or mean. That kind of busy is too busy.
And maybe, like Martha, you've even become so busy that, well, you're even missing time with your Jesus. Your time to listen at His feet has been crowded to the edges instead of being the sun around which all the other planets of your life and your schedule revolve. You're missing God's voice. You're missing God's fingerprints all over your day. You're speeding by a lot of things that really, really matter.
It's time to look at those priorities, isn't it? So many beautiful things are right in front of you, but you're doing so much, moving so fast you're missing them. These are moments, these are memories, these are opportunities that may never be there again. Don't let them slip through your fingers.